Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor device includes a first barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over a substrate, a first insulator over the first barrier layer, a second insulator over the first insulator, a third insulator over the second insulator, a transistor including an oxide semiconductor over the third insulator, a fourth insulator including an oxygen-excess region over the transistor, and a second barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over the fourth insulator. The transistor includes a first conductor with oxidation resistance, a second conductor with oxidation resistance, and a third conductor with oxidation resistance, the second insulator includes a high-k material, the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer are in contact with each other in an outer edge of a region where the transistor is provided, and the transistor is surrounded by the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an object, a method, or a manufacturing method. The present invention relates to a process, a machine, manufacture, or a composition of matter. One embodiment of the present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a light-emitting device, a display device, an electronic appliance, a lighting device, and a method for fabricating these devices. In particular, one embodiment of the present invention relates to an electronic device that includes, as a component, an LSI, a CPU, a power device mounted in a power circuit, a semiconductor integrated circuit including a memory, a thyristor, a converter, an image sensor, and the like. For example, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a light-emitting device utilizing an organic electroluminescence (hereinafter also referred to as EL) phenomenon, and a method for manufacturing the light-emitting device.

Note that one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above technical field.

In this specification, a semiconductor device generally means a device that can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics. An electro-optical device, a semiconductor circuit, and an electronic device include a semiconductor device in some cases.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, semiconductor devices have been developed to be used mainly for an LSI, a CPU, or a memory. A CPU is an aggregation of semiconductor elements each provided with an electrode which is a connection terminal, which includes a semiconductor integrated circuit (including at least a transistor and a memory) separated from a semiconductor wafer.

A semiconductor circuit (IC chip) of an LSI, a CPU, a memory, or the like is mounted on a circuit board, for example, a printed wiring board, to be used as one of components of a variety of electronic devices.

A technique by which a transistor is formed using a semiconductor thin film formed over a substrate having an insulating surface has been attracting attention. The transistor is applied to a wide range of electronic devices such as an integrated circuit (IC) or an image display device (also simply referred to as a display device). A silicon-based semiconductor material is widely known as a material for a semiconductor thin film applicable to the transistor. As another material for the same, an oxide semiconductor has been attracting attention.

It is known that a transistor including an oxide semiconductor has an extremely low leakage current in an off state. For example, a low-power-consumption CPU utilizing a characteristic of low leakage current of the transistor including an oxide semiconductor has been disclosed (see Patent Document 1).

A transistor including an oxide semiconductor is known to have a problem of low reliability because of high possibility of change in electric characteristics, although the transistor including an oxide semiconductor can be operated at higher speed than a transistor including amorphous silicon and can be manufactured more easily than a transistor including polycrystalline silicon. For example, the threshold voltage of the transistor is changed in some cases after a bias-temperature stress test (BT test).

REFERENCE Patent Document

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2012-257187

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of one embodiment of the present invention is to improve reliability of a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor. There is a problem in that a transistor including an oxide semiconductor tends to have normally-on characteristics and it is difficult to provide a logic circuit which operates properly in a driver circuit. Thus, an object of one embodiment of the present invention is to obtain normally-off characteristics of a transistor including an oxide semiconductor.

Another object is to provide a transistor having high reliability. Another object is to provide a transistor with extremely low leakage current in an off state.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device. Another object is to provide a semiconductor device with high productivity. Another object is to provide semiconductor devices with high yield. Another object is to provide a semiconductor device that occupies a small area.

Alternatively, an object is to provide a highly integrated semiconductor device. Another object is to provide a semiconductor device which can operate at high speed. Another object is to provide a semiconductor device with low power consumption.

Another object is to provide a novel semiconductor device. Another object is to provide a module including any of the above semiconductor devices. Another object is to provide an electronic device including any of the above semiconductor devices or the module.

Note that the descriptions of these objects do not disturb the existence of other objects. In one embodiment of the present invention, there is no need to achieve all the objects. Other objects will be apparent from and can be derived from the description of the specification, the drawings, the claims, and the like.

One embodiment of the present invention is a semiconductor device including a first barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over a substrate, a first insulator over the first barrier layer, a second insulator over the first insulator, a third insulator over the second insulator, a transistor including an oxide semiconductor over the third insulator, a fourth insulator including an oxygen-excess region over the transistor, and a second barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over the fourth insulator. In this structure, the transistor includes a first conductor with oxidation resistance, a second conductor with oxidation resistance, and a third conductor with oxidation resistance; the second insulator comprises a high-k material; the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer are in contact with each other in an outer edge of a region where the transistor is provided; and the transistor is surrounded by the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer

In the above structure, the first conductor, the second conductor, and the third conductor are each tantalum nitride.

In the above structure, the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer are each silicon nitride, and the amount of hydrogen that is released from the silicon nitride and is converted into hydrogen atoms is less than or equal to 10×10¹⁵ atoms/cm², preferably less than or equal to 5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm² when measured by TDS analysis at a temperature range from 50° C. to 500° C.

In the above structure, the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer are each aluminum oxide.

In the above structure, the first barrier layer is aluminum oxide, the second barrier layer has a stacked-layer structure including silicon nitride, and the amount of hydrogen that is released from the silicon nitride and is converted into hydrogen atoms is less than or equal to 10×10¹⁵ atoms/cm², preferably less than or equal to 5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm² when measured by TDS analysis at a temperature range from 50° C. to 500° C.

One embodiment of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, including the steps of forming a first barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over a substrate; forming a first conductor over the first barrier layer; forming a first insulator over the first conductor; forming a second insulator formed of a high-k material over the first insulator; forming a third insulator over the second insulator; forming a first oxide semiconductor over the third insulator; forming a second conductor with oxidation resistance over the first oxide semiconductor; processing the second conductor into an island shape; processing the first oxide semiconductor and the third insulator into an island shape with the use of the island-shaped second conductor as a mask; performing heat treatment; processing the island-shaped second conductor to form a third conductor and a fourth conductor; forming a second oxide semiconductor over the first oxide semiconductor, the third conductor, and the fourth conductor; forming a fourth insulator over the second oxide semiconductor; forming a fifth conductor with oxidation resistance that has an island shape over the fourth insulator; forming a fifth insulator over the fourth insulator and the fifth conductor; forming an opening in the fifth insulator so that the opening reaches the third conductor, the fourth conductor, and the fifth conductor; forming a sixth conductor in the opening; forming a second barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over the sixth conductor; performing oxygen plasma treatment on the third barrier layer and the fifth insulator; and forming a third barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over the second barrier layer and the fifth insulator.

In the above structure, the first barrier layer and the third barrier layer are each formed by a sputtering method.

In the above structure, the fifth conductor has a stacked-layer structure including tantalum nitride formed by an ALD method and tantalum nitride formed by a sputtering method.

A change in electric characteristics can be prevented and reliability can be improved in a semiconductor device including a transistor including an oxide semiconductor. A transistor including an oxide semiconductor with high on-state current can be provided. A transistor including an oxide semiconductor with low off-state current can be provided. A semiconductor device with low power consumption can be provided.

Alternatively, a novel semiconductor device can be provided. A module including the semiconductor device can be provided. An electronic device including the semiconductor device or the module can be provided.

Note that the description of these effects does not preclude the existence of other effects. One embodiment of the present invention does not have to have all the effects listed above. Other effects will be apparent from and can be derived from the description of the specification, the drawings, the claims, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a top view of a transistor of an embodiment and FIGS. 1B and 1C illustrate cross-sectional structures of the transistor.

FIG. 2A is a top view of a transistor of an embodiment and FIGS. 2B and 2C illustrate cross-sectional structures of the transistor.

FIG. 3A is a top view of a transistor of an embodiment and FIGS. 3B and 3C illustrate cross-sectional structures of the transistor.

FIG. 4A is a top view of a transistor of an embodiment and FIGS. 4B and 4C illustrate cross-sectional structures of the transistor.

FIG. 5A is a top view of a transistor of an embodiment and FIGS. 5B and 5C illustrate cross-sectional structures of the transistor.

FIGS. 6A to 6E illustrate an example of a method for manufacturing a transistor of an embodiment.

FIGS. 7A to 7D illustrate the example of a method for manufacturing a transistor of an embodiment.

FIGS. 8A to 8D illustrate the example of a method for manufacturing a transistor of an embodiment.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate the example of a method for manufacturing a transistor of an embodiment.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are circuit diagrams of semiconductor devices of an embodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a cross-sectional structure of a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates a cross-sectional structure of a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates a cross-sectional structure of a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates a cross-sectional structure of a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate cross-sectional structures of semiconductor devices of an embodiment.

FIGS. 16A and 16B illustrate cross-sectional structures of semiconductor devices of an embodiment.

FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate a cross-sectional structure of a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIG. 18 illustrates a cross-sectional structure of a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIG. 19A is a circuit diagram of a semiconductor of an embodiment and FIG. 19B illustrates a cross-sectional structure of the semiconductor device.

FIG. 20 illustrates a cross-sectional structure of a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIGS. 21A to 21D illustrate an example of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIGS. 22A to 22C illustrate the example of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIGS. 23A and 23B illustrate the example of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate the example of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIGS. 25A and 25B illustrate the example of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIG. 26 illustrates the example of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIG. 27 illustrates the example of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIG. 28 illustrates the example of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIG. 29 illustrates the example of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of an embodiment.

FIGS. 30A to 30C each illustrate an atomic ratio range of an oxide semiconductor of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 illustrates an InMZnO₄ crystal.

FIGS. 32A to 32C are band diagrams of stacked structures of oxide semiconductors.

FIGS. 33A to 33E show structural analyses of a CAAC-OS and a single crystal oxide semiconductor by XRD and selected-area electron diffraction patterns of a CAAC-OS.

FIGS. 34A to 34E show a cross-sectional TEM image and plan-view TEM images of a CAAC-OS and images obtained through analysis thereof.

FIGS. 35A to 35D show electron diffraction patterns and a cross-sectional TEM image of an nc-OS.

FIGS. 36A and 36B show cross-sectional TEM images of an a-like OS.

FIG. 37 shows a change in crystal part of an In—Ga—Zn oxide induced by electron irradiation.

FIG. 38 shows an energy band of a transistor in which an oxide semiconductor film is used as a channel region.

FIG. 39 is a block diagram illustrating a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 40 shows a circuit diagram and a block diagram of a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 41A to 41C are a circuit diagram, a top view, and a cross sectional view of a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 42A and 42B are a circuit diagram and a cross-sectional view illustrating a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 43A to 43F are perspective views illustrating an electronic device of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 44A and 44B are graphs showing SIMS measurement results of samples of Example.

FIGS. 45A and 45B are graphs showing SIMS measurement results of samples of Example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to drawings. Note that the embodiments can be implemented with various modes, and it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modes and details can be changed in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited to the following description of the embodiments.

In the drawings, the size, the layer thickness, or the region is exaggerated for clarity in some cases. Therefore, the size, the layer thickness, or the region is not limited to the illustrated scale. Note that the drawings are schematic views showing ideal examples, and embodiments of the present invention are not limited to shapes or values shown in the drawings. In the drawings, the same portions or portions having similar functions are denoted by the same reference numerals in different drawings, and explanation thereof will not be repeated. Further, the same hatching pattern is applied to portions having similar functions, and the portions are not especially denoted by reference numerals in some cases.

Note that the ordinal numbers such as “first”, “second”, and the like in this specification and the like are used for convenience and do not denote the order of steps or the stacking order of layers. Therefore, for example, description can be made even when “first” is replaced with “second” or “third”, as appropriate. In addition, the ordinal numbers in this specification and the like are not necessarily the same as those which specify one embodiment of the present invention.

In this specification, terms for describing arrangement, such as “over”, “above”, “under”, and “below”, are used for convenience in describing a positional relation between components with reference to drawings. Furthermore, the positional relationship between components is changed as appropriate in accordance with a direction in which each component is described. Thus, there is no limitation on terms used in this specification, and description can be made appropriately depending on the situation.

The “semiconductor device” in this specification and the like means all devices which can operate by utilizing semiconductor characteristics. A semiconductor element such as a transistor, a semiconductor circuit, an arithmetic device, and a memory device are each an embodiment of a semiconductor device. An imaging device, a display device, a liquid crystal display device, a light-emitting device, an electro-optical device, a power generation device (including a thin film solar cell, an organic thin film solar cell, and the like), and an electronic device may each include a semiconductor device.

In this specification and the like, a transistor is an element having at least three terminals of a gate, a drain, and a source. The transistor has a channel region between a drain (a drain terminal, a drain region, or a drain electrode) and a source (a source terminal, a source region, or a source electrode), and current can flow through the drain, the channel region, and the source. Note that in this specification and the like, a channel region refers to a region through which current mainly flows.

Furthermore, functions of a source and a drain might be switched when transistors having different polarities are employed or a direction of current flow is changed in circuit operation, for example. Therefore, the terms “source” and “drain” can be switched in this specification and the like.

Note that in this specification and the like, a silicon oxynitride film refers to a film in which the proportion of oxygen is higher than that of nitrogen. The silicon oxynitride film preferably contains oxygen, nitrogen, silicon, and hydrogen at concentrations ranging from 55 atomic % to 65 atomic %, 1 atomic % to 20 atomic %, 25 atomic % to 35 atomic %, and 0.1 atomic % to 10 atomic %, respectively. A silicon nitride oxide film refers to a film in which the proportion of nitrogen is higher than that of oxygen. The silicon nitride oxide film preferably contains nitrogen, oxygen, silicon, and hydrogen at concentrations ranging from 55 atomic % to 65 atomic %, 1 atomic % to 20 atomic %, 25 atomic % to 35 atomic %, and 0.1 atomic % to 10 atomic %, respectively.

In this specification and the like, the terms “film” and “layer” can be interchanged with each other. For example, the term “conductive layer” can be changed into the term “conductive film” in some cases. Also, the term “insulating film” can be changed into the term “insulating layer” in some cases.

In this specification and the like, the term “parallel” indicates that the angle formed between two straight lines is greater than or equal to −10° and less than or equal to 10°, and accordingly also includes the case where the angle is greater than or equal to −5° and less than or equal to 5°. In addition, the term “substantially parallel” indicates that the angle formed between two straight lines is greater than or equal to −30° and less than or equal to 30°. The terms “perpendicular” indicates that the angle formed between two straight lines is greater than or equal to 80° and less than or equal to 100°, and accordingly also includes the case where the angle is greater than or equal to 85° and less than or equal to 95°. In addition, the term “substantially perpendicular” indicates that the angle formed between two straight lines is greater than or equal to 60° and less than or equal to 120°.

For example, in this specification and the like, an explicit description “X and Y are connected” means that X and Y are electrically connected, X and Y are functionally connected, and X and Y are directly connected. Accordingly, without being limited to a predetermined connection relationship, for example, a connection relationship shown in drawings or texts, another connection relationship is included in the drawings or the texts.

Here, X and Y each denote an object (e.g., a device, an element, a circuit, a wiring, an electrode, a terminal, a conductive film, or a layer).

Examples of the case where X and Y are directly connected include the case where an element that allows an electrical connection between X and Y (e.g., a switch, a transistor, a capacitor, an inductor, a resistor, a diode, a display element, a light-emitting element, and a load) is not connected between X and Y, and the case where X and Y are connected without the element that allows the electrical connection between X and Y provided therebetween.

For example, in the case where X and Y are electrically connected, one or more elements that enable an electrical connection between X and Y (e.g., a switch, a transistor, a capacitor, an inductor, a resistor, a diode, a display element, a light-emitting element, or a load) can be connected between X and Y. Note that the switch is controlled to be turned on or off. That is, the switch is conducting or not conducting (is turned on or off) to determine whether current flows therethrough or not. Alternatively, the switch has a function of selecting and changing a current path. Note that the case where X and Y are electrically connected includes the case where X and Y are directly connected.

For example, in the case where X and Y are functionally connected, one or more circuits that enable a functional connection between X and Y (e.g., a logic circuit such as an inverter, a NAND circuit, or a NOR circuit; a signal converter circuit such as a D/A converter circuit, an A/D converter circuit, or a gamma correction circuit; a potential level converter circuit such as a power supply circuit (e.g., a step-up circuit or a step-down circuit) or a level shifter circuit for changing the potential level of a signal; a voltage source; a current source; a switching circuit; an amplifier circuit such as a circuit that can increase signal amplitude, the amount of current, or the like, an operational amplifier, a differential amplifier circuit, a source follower circuit, and a buffer circuit; a signal generation circuit; a memory circuit; or a control circuit) can be connected between X and Y. For example, even when another circuit is interposed between X and Y, X and Y are functionally connected if a signal output from X is transmitted to Y. Note that the case where X and Y are functionally connected includes the case where X and Y are directly connected and the case where X and Y are electrically connected.

Note that in this specification and the like, an explicit description “X and Y are electrically connected” means that X and Y are electrically connected (i.e., the case where X and Y are connected with another element or another circuit provided therebetween), X and Y are functionally connected (i.e., the case where X and Y are functionally connected with another circuit provided therebetween), and X and Y are directly connected (i.e., the case where X and Y are connected without another element or another circuit provided therebetween). That is, in this specification and the like, the explicit description “X and Y are electrically connected” is the same as the description “X and Y are connected”.

For example, any of the following expressions can be used for the case where a source (or a first terminal or the like) of a transistor is electrically connected to X through (or not through) Z1 and a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of the transistor is electrically connected to Y through (or not through) Z2, or the case where a source (or a first terminal or the like) of a transistor is directly connected to one part of Z1 and another part of Z1 is directly connected to X while a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of the transistor is directly connected to one part of Z2 and another part of Z2 is directly connected to Y.

Examples of the expressions include, “X, Y, a source (or a first terminal or the like) of a transistor, and a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of the transistor are electrically connected to each other, and X, the source (or the first terminal or the like) of the transistor, the drain (or the second terminal or the like) of the transistor, and Y are electrically connected to each other in this order”, “a source (or a first terminal or the like) of a transistor is electrically connected to X, a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of the transistor is electrically connected to Y, and X, the source (or the first terminal or the like) of the transistor, the drain (or the second terminal or the like) of the transistor, and Y are electrically connected to each other in this order”, and “X is electrically connected to Y through a source (or a first terminal or the like) and a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of a transistor, and X, the source (or the first terminal or the like) of the transistor, the drain (or the second terminal or the like) of the transistor, and Y are provided to be connected in this order”. When the connection order in a circuit configuration is defined by an expression similar to the above examples, a source (or a first terminal or the like) and a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of a transistor can be distinguished from each other to specify the technical scope.

Other examples of the expressions include, “a source (or a first terminal or the like) of a transistor is electrically connected to X through at least a first connection path, the first connection path does not include a second connection path, the second connection path is a path between the source (or the first terminal or the like) of the transistor and a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of the transistor, Z1 is on the first connection path, the drain (or the second terminal or the like) of the transistor is electrically connected to Y through at least a third connection path, the third connection path does not include the second connection path, and Z2 is on the third connection path” and “a source (or a first terminal or the like) of a transistor is electrically connected to X at least with a first connection path through Z1, the first connection path does not include a second connection path, the second connection path includes a connection path through which the transistor is provided, a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of the transistor is electrically connected to Y at least with a third connection path through Z2, and the third connection path does not include the second connection path”. Still another example of the expression is “a source (or a first terminal or the like) of a transistor is electrically connected to X through at least Z1 on a first electrical path, the first electrical path does not include a second electrical path, the second electrical path is an electrical path from the source (or the first terminal or the like) of the transistor to a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of the transistor, the drain (or the second terminal or the like) of the transistor is electrically connected to Y through at least Z2 on a third electrical path, the third electrical path does not include a fourth electrical path, and the fourth electrical path is an electrical path from the drain (or the second terminal or the like) of the transistor to the source (or the first terminal or the like) of the transistor”. When the connection path in a circuit structure is defined by an expression similar to the above examples, a source (or a first terminal or the like) and a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of a transistor can be distinguished from each other to specify the technical scope.

Note that these expressions are examples and there is no limitation on the expressions. Here, X, Y, Z1, and Z2 each denote an object (e.g., a device, an element, a circuit, a wiring, an electrode, a terminal, a conductive film, and a layer).

Even when independent components are electrically connected to each other in a circuit diagram, one component has functions of a plurality of components in some cases. For example, when part of a wiring also functions as an electrode, one conductive film functions as the wiring and the electrode. Thus, “electrical connection” in this specification includes in its category such a case where one conductive film has functions of a plurality of components.

Embodiment 1

In this embodiment, one embodiment of a semiconductor device is described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1C, FIGS. 2A to 2C, FIGS. 3A to 3C, FIGS. 4A to 4C, FIGS. 5A to 5C, FIGS. 6A to 6E, FIGS. 7A to 7D, FIGS. 8A to 8D, and FIGS. 9A and 9B.

<Transistor Structure 1>

An example of a transistor of one embodiment of the present invention is described below. FIGS. 1A to 1C are a top view and cross-sectional views illustrating the transistor of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a top view, FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line X1-X2 in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line Y1-Y2 in FIG. 1A. Note that for simplification of the drawing, some components are not illustrated in the top view of FIG. 1A.

A transistor 200 includes a conductor 205 (a conductor 205 a and a conductor 205 b) and a conductor 260 (a conductor 260 a and a conductor 260 b) which function as gate electrodes; an insulator 220, an insulator 222, an insulator 224, and an insulator 250 which function as gate insulating layers; an oxide 230 (an oxide 230 a, an oxide 230 b, and an oxide 230 c) which includes a region where a channel is formed; a conductor 240 a which functions as one of a source and a drain; a conductor 240 b which functions as the other of the source and the drain; an insulator 280 which contains excess oxygen; and an insulator 282 which has a barrier property.

The oxide 230 includes the oxide 230 a, the oxide 230 b over the oxide 230 a, and the oxide 230 c over the oxide 230 b. When the transistor 200 is turned on, a current flows (a channel is formed) mainly in the oxide 230 b. Although current sometimes flows through a region in the vicinity of the interface (a mixed region in some cases) between the oxide 230 b and each of the oxides 230 a and 230 c, the oxides 230 a and 230 c function as insulators at the other region.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1A to 1C, the oxide 230 c is preferably provided to cover side surfaces of the oxides 230 a and 230 b. The oxide 230 c, which is provided between the insulator 280 and the oxide 230 b including the region where the channel is formed, can prevent impurities such as hydrogen, water, and halogen from diffusing from the insulator 280 into the oxide 230 b.

A metal film containing an element selected from molybdenum, titanium, tantalum, tungsten, aluminum, copper, chromium, neodymium, and scandium; a metal nitride film containing any of the elements as its component (e.g., a tantalum nitride film, a titanium nitride film, a molybdenum nitride film, or a tungsten nitride film); or the like is used as the conductor 205. In particular, a metal nitride film such as a tantalum nitride film is preferable because it has a barrier property against hydrogen or oxygen and is difficult to oxidize (has high oxidation resistance). Alternatively, a conductive material such as indium tin oxide, indium oxide containing tungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungsten oxide, indium oxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide containing titanium oxide, indium zinc oxide, or indium tin oxide to which silicon oxide is added can also be used.

For example, a conductor having a barrier property against hydrogen, e.g., tantalum nitride, may be used as the conductor 205 a, and tungsten, which has high conductivity, may be stacked thereover as the conductor 205 b. The use of the combination of the materials can prevent diffusion of hydrogen into the oxide 230 while conductivity of a wiring is ensured. Note that a two-layer structure of the conductors 205 a and 205 b is illustrated in FIGS. 1A to 1C; however, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto, and a single-layer structure or a stacked-layer structure of three or more layers may be used. For example, a structure where a conductor having a barrier property and a conductor with high conductivity are provided with a conductor which is highly adhesive to the conductor having a barrier property and the conductor with high conductivity positioned therebetween may be employed.

Each of the insulators 220 and 224 is preferably an insulator containing oxygen, such as a silicon oxide film or a silicon oxynitride film. In particular, the insulator 224 is preferably an insulator containing excess oxygen (containing oxygen in excess of that in the stoichiometric composition). In the case where such an insulator containing excess oxygen is provided in contact with an oxide in the transistor 200, oxygen vacancies in the oxide can be compensated. Note that the insulators 222 and 224 are not necessarily formed of the same material.

The insulator 222 preferably has a single-layer structure or a stacked-layer structure formed using an insulator containing silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, tantalum oxide, zirconium oxide, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), strontium titanate (SrTiO₃), (Ba,Sr)TiO₃ (BST), or the like. In particular, an insulating film having a barrier property against oxygen or hydrogen, e.g., an aluminum oxide film or a hafnium oxide film, is preferably used. The insulator 222 formed of such a material functions as a layer which prevents release of oxygen from the oxide 230 and entry of impurities such as hydrogen from the outside.

Alternatively, aluminum oxide, bismuth oxide, germanium oxide, niobium oxide, silicon oxide, titanium oxide, tungsten oxide, yttrium oxide, or zirconium oxide may be added to these insulators, for example. These insulators may be subjected to nitriding treatment. A layer of silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, or silicon nitride may be stacked over the insulator.

Note that the insulators 220, 222, and 224 each may have a stacked-layer structure of two or more layers. In that case, the stacked layers are not necessarily formed of the same material but may be formed of different materials.

Since the insulator 222 including a high-k material is provided between the insulator 220 and the insulator 224, electrons can be trapped in the insulator 222 under specific conditions, and the threshold voltage can be increased. As a result, the insulator 222 is negatively charged in some cases.

For example, in the case where the insulator 220 and the insulator 224 are formed using silicon oxide and the insulator 222 is formed using a material having a lot of electron trap states such as hafnium oxide, aluminum oxide, or tantalum oxide, the state where the potential of the conductor 205 is higher than the potential of the source electrode and the drain electrode is kept at a temperature higher than the operating temperature or the storage temperature of the semiconductor device (e.g., at a temperature of 125° C. or higher and 450° C. or lower, typically 150° C. or higher and 300° C. or lower) for 10 milliseconds or longer, typically one minute or longer. Thus, electrons are moved from the oxide in the transistor 200 to the conductor 205. At this time, some of the moving electrons are trapped by the electron trap states of the insulator 222.

In the transistor in which a necessary amount of electrons is trapped by the electron trap states of the insulator 222, the threshold voltage is shifted in the positive direction. By controlling the voltage of the conductor 205, the amount of electrons to be trapped can be controlled, and thus the threshold voltage can be controlled. The transistor 200 having the structure is a normally-off transistor which is in a non-conduction state (also referred to as an off state) even when the gate voltage is 0 V.

The treatment for trapping the electrons may be performed in the manufacturing process of the transistor. For example, the treatment is preferably performed at any step before factory shipment, such as after the formation of a conductor connected to a source conductor or a drain conductor of the transistor, after the preceding process (wafer processing), after a wafer-dicing step, or after packaging.

The threshold voltages can be controlled by appropriate adjustment of the thicknesses of the insulators 220, 222, and 224. For example, when the total thickness of the insulators 220, 222, and 224 is reduced, a voltage is efficiently applied from the conductor 205, resulting in low power consumption of the transistor. The total thickness of the insulators 220, 222, and 224 is less than or equal to 65 nm, preferably less than or equal to 20 nm.

Thus, a transistor having a low leakage current in an off state can be provided. A transistor with stable electrical characteristics can be provided. A transistor having a high on-state current can be provided. A transistor with a small subthreshold swing value can be provided. A highly reliable transistor can be provided.

The oxides 230 a, 230 b, and 230 c are each formed using a metal oxide such as In-M-Zn oxide (M is Al, Ga, Y, or Sn). In—Ga oxide or In—Zn oxide may be used as the oxide 230.

The oxide 230 according to the present invention is described below.

An oxide used as the oxide 230 preferably contains at least indium or zinc. In particular, indium and zinc are preferably contained. In addition, aluminum, gallium, yttrium, tin, or the like is preferably contained. Furthermore, one or more elements selected from boron, silicon, titanium, iron, nickel, germanium, zirconium, molybdenum, lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, magnesium, or the like may be contained.

Here, the case where an oxide contains indium, an element M, and zinc is considered. The element M is aluminum, gallium, yttrium, tin, or the like. Other elements that can be used as the element M include boron, silicon, titanium, iron, nickel, germanium, zirconium, molybdenum, lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, and magnesium. Note that two or more of the above elements may be used in combination as the element M.

First, preferred ranges of the atomic ratio of indium, the element M, and zinc contained in an oxide according to the present invention are described with reference to FIGS. 30A to 30C. Note that the proportion of oxygen atoms is not illustrated in FIGS. 30A to 30C. The terms of the atomic ratio of indium, the element M, and zinc contained in the oxide are denoted by [In], [M], and [Zn], respectively.

In FIGS. 30A to 30C, broken lines indicate a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is (1+α):(1−α):1 (−1≦α≦1), a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is (1+α):(1−α):2, a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is (1+α):(1−α):3, a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is (1+α):(1−α):4, and a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is (1+α):(1−α):5.

Dashed-dotted lines indicate a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is 1:1:β (β≧0), a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is 1:2:β, a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is 1:3:β, a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is 1:4:β, a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is 2:1:β, and a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is 5:1:β.

Dashed-double dotted lines indicate a line where the atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is (1+γ):2:(1−γ) (−1≦γ≦1). An oxide with an atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] that is equal to or close to 0:2:1 in FIGS. 30A to 30C is likely to have a spinel crystal structure.

FIGS. 30A and 30B illustrate examples of the preferred ranges of the atomic ratio of indium, the element M, and zinc contained in an oxide in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 illustrates an example of the crystal structure of InMZnO₄ whose atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is 1:1:1. The crystal structure illustrated in FIG. 31 is InMZnO₄ observed from a direction parallel to a b-axis. Note that a metal element in a layer that contains M, Zn, and oxygen (hereinafter, this layer is referred to as an “(M,Zn) layer”) in FIG. 31 represents the element M or zinc. In that case, the proportion of the element M is the same as the proportion of zinc. The element M and zinc can be replaced with each other, and their arrangement is random.

Note that InMZnO₄ has a layered crystal structure (also referred to as a layered structure) and includes one layer that contains indium and oxygen (hereinafter referred to as an In layer) for every two (M,Zn) layers that contain the element M, zinc, and oxygen, as illustrated in FIG. 31.

Indium and the element M can be replaced with each other. Therefore, when the element M in the (M,Zn) layer is replaced with indium, the layer can also be referred to as an (In,M,Zn) layer. In that case, a layered structure that contains one In layer for every two (In,M,Zn) layers is obtained.

An oxide whose atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] is 1:1:2 has a layered structure that includes one In layer for every three (M,Zn) layers. In other words, if [Zn] is larger than [In] and [M], the proportion of the (M,Zn) layer to the In layer becomes higher when the oxide is crystallized.

Note that in the case where the number of (M,Zn) layers with respect to one In layer is not an integer in the oxide, the oxide might have a plurality of kinds of layered structures where the number of (M,Zn) layers with respect to one In layer is an integer. For example, in the case of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=1:1:1.5, the oxide might have the following layered structures: a layered structure of one In layer for every two (M,Zn) layers and a layered structure of one In layer for every three (M,Zn) layers.

For example, in the case where the oxide is deposited with a sputtering apparatus, a film having an atomic ratio deviated from the atomic ratio of a target is formed. In particular, [Zn] in the film might be smaller than [Zn] in the target depending on the substrate temperature in deposition.

A plurality of phases (e.g., two phases or three phases) exist in the oxide in some cases. For example, with an atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] that is close to 0:2:1, two phases of a spinel crystal structure and a layered crystal structure are likely to exist. In addition, with an atomic ratio [In]:[M]:[Zn] that is close to 1:0:0, two phases of a bixbyite crystal structure and a layered crystal structure are likely to exist. In the case where a plurality of phases exist in the oxide, a grain boundary might be formed between different crystal structures.

In addition, the oxide containing indium in a higher proportion can have a higher carrier mobility (electron mobility). This is because in an oxide containing indium, the element M, and zinc, the s orbital of heavy metal mainly contributes to carrier transfer, and when the indium content in the oxide is increased, overlaps of the s orbitals of indium atoms are increased; therefore, an oxide having a high content of indium has a higher carrier mobility than an oxide having a low content of indium.

In contrast, carrier mobility decreases as the indium content and the zinc content in an oxide become lower. Thus, with an atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=0:1:0 and neighborhoods thereof (e.g., a region C in FIG. 30C), insulation performance becomes better.

Accordingly, an oxide in one embodiment of the present invention preferably has an atomic ratio represented by a region A in FIG. 30A. With the atomic ratio, a layered structure with high carrier mobility and a few grain boundaries is easily obtained.

A region B in FIG. 30B represents an atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=4:2:3 to 4:2:4.1 and the vicinity thereof. The vicinity includes an atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn] =5:3:4. An oxide with an atomic ratio represented by the region B is an excellent oxide that has particularly high crystallinity and high carrier mobility.

Note that the condition where an oxide forms a layered structure is not uniquely determined by an atomic ratio. There is a difference in the degree of difficulty in forming a layered structure among atomic ratios. Even with the same atomic ratio, whether a layered structure is formed or not depends on a formation condition. Therefore, the illustrated regions each represent an atomic ratio with which an oxide has a layered structure, and boundaries of the regions A to C are not clear.

Next, the case where the oxide is used for a transistor is described.

Note that when the oxide is used for a transistor, carrier scattering or the like at a grain boundary can be reduced; thus, the transistor can have high field-effect mobility. In addition, the transistor can have high reliability.

An oxide with a low carrier density is preferably used for the transistor. For example, an oxide whose carrier density is lower than 8×10¹¹/cm³, preferably lower than 1×10¹¹/cm³, further preferably lower than 1×10¹⁰/cm³, and greater than or equal to 1×10⁻⁹/cm³ is used.

A highly purified intrinsic or substantially highly purified intrinsic oxide has few carrier generation sources and thus can have a low carrier density. The highly purified intrinsic or substantially highly purified intrinsic oxide has a low density of defect states and accordingly has a low density of trap states in some cases.

Charge trapped by the trap states in the oxide takes a long time to be released and may behave like fixed charge. Thus, a transistor whose channel region is formed in an oxide having a high density of trap states has unstable electrical characteristics in some cases.

In order to obtain stable electrical characteristics of the transistor, it is effective to reduce the concentration of impurities in the oxide. In addition, in order to reduce the concentration of impurities in the oxide, the concentration of impurities in a film that is adjacent to the oxide is preferably reduced. As examples of the impurities, hydrogen, nitrogen, alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, iron, nickel, silicon, and the like are given.

Here, the influence of impurities in the oxide is described.

When silicon or carbon that is a Group 14 element is contained in the oxide, defect states are formed in the oxide. Thus, the concentration of silicon or carbon (measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)) is set to be lower than or equal to 2×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 2×10¹⁷ atoms/cm³ in the oxide or around an interface with the oxide.

When the oxide contains alkali metal or alkaline earth metal, defect states are formed and carriers are generated, in some cases. Thus, a transistor including an oxide that contains alkali metal or alkaline earth metal is likely to be normally-on. Therefore, it is preferable to reduce the concentration of alkali metal or alkaline earth metal in the oxide. Specifically, the concentration of alkali metal or alkaline earth metal measured by SIMS is set to be lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 2×10¹⁶ atoms/cm³.

When containing nitrogen, the oxide easily becomes n-type by generation of electrons serving as carriers and an increase of carrier density. Thus, a transistor whose semiconductor includes an oxide containing nitrogen is likely to be normally-on. For this reason, nitrogen in the oxide is preferably reduced as much as possible; for example, the concentration of nitrogen in the oxide measured by SIMS is set to be lower than 5×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, further preferably lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, and still further preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁷ atoms/cm³.

Hydrogen contained in an oxide reacts with oxygen bonded to a metal atom to be water, and thus causes an oxygen vacancy in some cases. Entry of hydrogen into the oxygen vacancy generates an electron serving as a carrier in some cases. Furthermore, in some cases, bonding of part of hydrogen to oxygen bonded to a metal atom causes generation of an electron serving as a carrier. Thus, a transistor including an oxide that contains hydrogen is likely to be normally-on. Accordingly, hydrogen in the oxide is preferably reduced as much as possible. Specifically, the concentration of hydrogen in the oxide measured by SIMS is set to be lower than 1×10²⁰ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, further preferably lower than 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, and still further preferably lower than 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³.

When an oxide with sufficiently reduced impurity concentration is used for a channel region in a transistor, the transistor can have stable electrical characteristics.

Next, the case where the oxide has a two-layer structure or a three-layer structure is described. A band diagram of insulators that are in contact with a stacked-layer structure of an oxide S1, an oxide S2, and an oxide S3, a band diagram of insulators that are in contact with a stacked-layer structure of the oxide S1 and the oxide S2, and a band diagram of insulators that are in contact with a stacked-layer structure of the oxide S2 and the oxide S3 are described with reference to FIGS. 32A to 32C.

FIG. 32A is an example of a band diagram of a layered structure including an insulator I1, the oxide S1, the oxide S2, the oxide S3, and an insulator 12 in a thickness direction. FIG. 32B is an example of a band diagram of a layered structure including the insulator I1, the oxide S2, the oxide S3, and the insulator 12 in a thickness direction. FIG. 32C is an example of a band diagram of a layered structure including the insulator I1, the oxide S1, the oxide S2, and the insulator 12 in a thickness direction. Note that for easy understanding, the band diagrams show the energy level of the conduction band minimum (Ec) of each of the insulator I1, the oxide S1, the oxide S2, the oxide S3, and the insulator 12.

The energy level of the conduction band minimum of each of the oxides S1 and S3 is closer to the vacuum level than that of the oxide S2. Typically, a difference in the energy level between the conduction band minimum of the oxide S2 and the conduction band minimum of each of the oxides S1 and S3 is preferably greater than or equal to 0.15 eV or greater than or equal to 0.5 eV, and less than or equal to 2 eV or less than or equal to 1 eV. That is, a difference in the electron affinity between each of the oxides S1 and S3 and the oxide S2 is preferably greater than or equal to 0.15 eV or greater than or equal to 0.5 eV, and less than or equal to 2 eV or less than or equal to 1 eV.

As shown in FIGS. 32A to 32C, the energy level of the conduction band minimum of each of the oxides S1 to S3 is gradually varied. In other words, the energy level of the conduction band minimum is continuously varied or continuously connected. In order to obtain such a band diagram, the density of defect states in a mixed layer formed at the interface between the oxides S1 and S2 or the interface between the oxides S2 and S3 is preferably made low.

Specifically, when the oxides S1 and S2 or the oxides S2 and S3 contain the same element (as a main component) in addition to oxygen, a mixed layer with a low density of defect states can be formed. For example, in the case where the oxide S2 is an In—Ga—Zn oxide, it is preferable to use an In—Ga—Zn oxide, a Ga—Zn oxide, gallium oxide, or the like as each of the oxides S1 and S3.

At this time, the oxide S2 serves as a main carrier path. Since the density of defect states at the interface between the oxides S1 and S2 and the interface between the oxides S2 and S3 can be made low, the influence of interface scattering on carrier conduction is small, and high on-state current can be obtained.

When an electron is trapped in a trap state, the trapped electron behaves like fixed charge; thus, the threshold voltage of the transistor is shifted in a positive direction. The oxides S1 and S3 can make the trap state apart from the oxide S2. This structure can prevent the positive shift of the threshold voltage of the transistor.

A material whose conductivity is sufficiently lower than that of the oxide S2 is used for the oxides S1 and S3. In that case, the oxide S2, the interface between the oxides S1 and S2, and the interface between the oxides S2 and S3 mainly function as a channel region. For example, an oxide with high insulation performance and the atomic ratio represented by the region C in FIG. 30C may be used as each of the oxides S1 and S3. Note that the region C in FIG. 30C represents the atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=0:1:0 or the vicinity thereof.

In the case where an oxide with the atomic ratio represented by the region A is used as the oxide S2, it is particularly preferable to use an oxide with an atomic ratio where [M]/[In] is greater than or equal to 1, preferably greater than or equal to 2 as each of the oxides S1 and S3. In addition, it is suitable to use an oxide with sufficiently high insulation performance and an atomic ratio where [M]/([Zn]+[In]) is greater than or equal to 1 as the oxide S3.

The insulator 250 can have a single-layer structure or a stacked-layer structure using, for example, one or more of an insulator containing silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, tantalum oxide, zirconium oxide, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), strontium titanate (SrTiO₃), (Ba,Sr)TiO₃ (BST), or the like. Aluminum oxide, bismuth oxide, germanium oxide, niobium oxide, silicon oxide, titanium oxide, tungsten oxide, yttrium oxide, or zirconium oxide may be added to the insulator, for example. The insulator may be subjected to nitriding treatment. A layer of silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, or silicon nitride may be stacked over the insulator.

Like the insulator 224, the insulator 250 is preferably formed using an oxide insulator that contains oxygen in excess of that in the stoichiometric composition. When such an insulator containing excess oxygen is provided in contact with the oxide 230, oxygen vacancies in the oxide 230 can be reduced.

As the insulator 250, an insulating film formed of aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, gallium oxide, gallium oxynitride, yttrium oxide, yttrium oxynitride, hafnium oxide, hafnium oxynitride, silicon nitride, or the like, which has barrier properties against oxygen or hydrogen, can be used. The insulator 250 formed of such a material serves as a layer that prevents release of oxygen from the oxide 230 and entry of an impurity such as hydrogen from the outside.

Note that the insulator 250 may have a stacked-layer structure similar to that of the insulator 220, the insulator 222, and the insulator 224. When the insulator 250 includes an insulator in which a necessary amount of electrons is trapped by electron trap states, the threshold voltage of the transistor 200 can be shifted in the positive direction. The transistor 200 having the structure is a normally-off transistor which is in a non-conduction state (also referred to as an off state) even when the gate voltage is 0 V.

In addition to the insulator 250, a barrier film may be provided between the oxide 230 and the conductor 260 in the semiconductor device illustrated in FIGS. 1A to 1C. Alternatively, the oxide 230 c may have a barrier property.

For example, an insulating film containing excess oxygen is provided in contact with the oxide 230 and enclosed with a barrier film, whereby the composition of the oxide can be almost the same as the stoichiometric composition or can be in a supersaturated state containing more oxygen than that in the stoichiometric composition. It is also possible to prevent entry of impurities such as hydrogen into the oxide 230.

One of the conductors 240 a and 240 b functions as a source electrode, and the other thereof functions as a drain electrode.

Any of metals such as aluminum, titanium, chromium, nickel, copper, yttrium, zirconium, molybdenum, silver, tantalum, and tungsten, or an alloy containing any of the metals as its main component can be used for each of the conductors 240 a and 240 b. In particular, a metal nitride film such as a tantalum nitride film is preferable because it has a barrier property against hydrogen or oxygen and has high oxidation resistance.

Although a single-layer structure is shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C, a stacked-layer structure of two or more layers may be used. For example, a tantalum nitride film and a tungsten film may be stacked. Alternatively, a titanium film and an aluminum film may be stacked. Other examples include a two-layer structure where an aluminum film is stacked over a tungsten film, a two-layer structure where a copper film is stacked over a copper-magnesium-aluminum alloy film, a two-layer structure where a copper film is stacked over a titanium film, and a two-layer structure where a copper film is stacked over a tungsten film.

Other examples include a three-layer structure where a titanium film or a titanium nitride film is formed, an aluminum film or a copper film is stacked over the titanium film or the titanium nitride film, and a titanium film or a titanium nitride film is formed over the aluminum film or the copper film; and a three-layer structure where a molybdenum film or a molybdenum nitride film is formed, an aluminum film or a copper film is stacked over the molybdenum film or the molybdenum nitride film, and a molybdenum film or a molybdenum nitride film is formed over the aluminum film or the copper film. Note that a transparent conductive material containing indium oxide, tin oxide, or zinc oxide may be used.

The conductor 260 functioning as a gate electrode can be formed using, for example, a metal selected from aluminum, chromium, copper, tantalum, titanium, molybdenum, and tungsten, an alloy containing any of these metals as its component, an alloy containing any of these metals in combination, or the like. In particular, a metal nitride film such as a tantalum nitride film is preferable because it has a barrier property against hydrogen or oxygen and has high oxidation resistance. Furthermore, one or both of manganese and zirconium may be used. Alternatively, a semiconductor typified by polycrystalline silicon doped with an impurity element such as phosphorus, or a silicide such as nickel silicide may be used. Although a two-layer structure is shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C, a single-layer structure or a stacked-layer structure of three or more layers may be used.

The stacked two layers may be formed of the same material. The conductor 260 a is formed by a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, or an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method, for example. In particular, an ALD method is preferably used. The application of an ALD method or the like can reduce damage to the insulator 250 which is caused during deposition. Furthermore, an ALD method or the like is preferable because it can improve the coverage. Thus, the transistor 200 with high reliability can be provided.

Next, the conductor 260 b is formed by a sputtering method. At that time, since the conductor 260 a is provided over the insulator 250, damage caused during deposition of the conductor 260 b can be prevented from influencing the insulator 250. Since the deposition rate in a sputtering method is higher than that in an ALD method, the productivity can be improved with a high yield.

A two-layer structure where a titanium film is stacked over an aluminum film may be employed, for example. Other examples include a two-layer structure where a titanium film is stacked over a titanium nitride film, a two-layer structure where a tungsten film is stacked over a titanium nitride film, and a two-layer structure where a tungsten film is stacked over a tantalum nitride film or a tungsten nitride film.

Other examples include a three-layer structure where a titanium film is formed, an aluminum film is stacked over the titanium film, and a titanium film is formed over the aluminum film. Alternatively, an alloy film or a nitride film that contains aluminum and one or more elements selected from titanium, tantalum, tungsten, molybdenum, chromium, neodymium, and scandium may be used.

The conductor 260 can also be formed using a light-transmitting conductive material such as indium tin oxide, indium oxide containing tungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungsten oxide, indium oxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide containing titanium oxide, indium zinc oxide, or indium tin oxide to which silicon oxide is added. The conductor 260 can have a stacked-layer structure using any of the above-described light-transmitting conductive materials and any of the above-described metals.

Next, the insulator 280 and the insulator 282 are provided over the transistor 200.

The insulator 280 preferably includes oxide containing oxygen in excess of that in the stoichiometric composition. That is, in the insulator 280, a region containing oxygen in excess of that in the stoichiometric composition (hereinafter also referred to as oxygen-excess region) is preferably formed. In particular, in the case of using an oxide semiconductor in the transistor 200, when an insulator including an oxygen-excess region is provided as an interlayer film or the like in the vicinity of the transistor 200, oxygen vacancies in the transistor 200 are reduced, whereby the reliability can be improved.

As the insulator including the oxygen-excess region, specifically, an oxide material that releases part of oxygen by heating is preferably used. An oxide that releases part of oxygen by heating is an oxide film in which the amount of released oxygen converted into oxygen atoms is greater than or equal to 1.0×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, preferably greater than or equal to 3.0×10²⁰ atoms/cm³ in TDS analysis. Note that the temperature of the film surface in the TDS analysis is preferably higher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 700° C., or higher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 500° C.

For example, as such a material, a material containing silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride is preferably used. Alternatively, a metal oxide can be used. Note that in this specification, “silicon oxynitride” refers to a material that contains oxygen at a higher proportion than nitrogen, and “silicon nitride oxide” refers to a material that contains nitrogen at a higher proportion than oxygen.

The insulator 280 that covers the transistor 200 may function as a planarization film that covers a roughness thereunder.

The insulator 282 is preferably formed using an insulating film having a barrier property against oxygen or hydrogen, e.g., an aluminum oxide film or hafnium oxide film. The insulator 282 formed of such a material serves as a layer that prevents release of oxygen from the oxide 230 and entry of an impurity such as hydrogen from the outside.

The above structure makes it possible to provide a transistor including an oxide semiconductor with high on-state current. Alternatively, a transistor including an oxide semiconductor with low off-state current can be provided. Furthermore, when the transistor with the above structure is used in a semiconductor device, variation in the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor device can be reduced, and the reliability thereof can be improved. Alternatively, the power consumption of the semiconductor device can be reduced.

<Transistor Structure 2>

FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate another example applicable to the transistor 200. FIG. 2A illustrates a top surface of the transistor 200. For simplification of the figure, some films are not illustrated in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line X1-X2 in FIG. 2A, and FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line Y1-Y2 in FIG. 2A.

Note that in the transistor 200 illustrated in FIGS. 2A to 2C, components having the same function as the components in the transistor 200 in FIGS. 1A to 1C are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the structure illustrated in FIGS. 2A to 2C, the conductor 260 functioning as a gate electrode includes the conductor 260 a, the conductor 260 b, and a conductor 260 c. The oxide 230 c over the insulator 224 may be divided as long as it covers the side surface of the oxide 230 b.

The conductor 260 a is formed by a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, or an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. In particular, an ALD method is preferably used. The use of an ALD method or the like can reduce plasma damage to the insulator 250. Furthermore, an ALD method or the like is preferably used because it can improve the coverage. Thus, the transistor 200 with high reliability can be provided.

The conductor 260 b is formed using a material with high conductivity, such as tantalum, tungsten, copper, or aluminum. The conductor 260 c, which is formed over the conductor 260 b, is preferably formed using a material with high oxidation resistance, such as tungsten nitride.

For example, in the case where an oxide material from which oxygen is released is used as the insulator 280, when a conductor with high oxidation resistance is used as the conductor 260 c, a large area of which is in contact with the insulator 280 including the oxygen-excess region, oxygen released from the oxygen-excess region can be prevented from being absorbed by the conductor 260. Furthermore, the oxidation of the conductor 260 can be prevented, and oxygen released from the insulator 280 can be supplied to the oxide 230 efficiently. Using a conductor with high conductivity as the conductor 260 b can lead to lower power consumption of the transistor 200.

As illustrated in FIG. 2C, the oxide 230 b is covered with the conductor 205 and the conductor 260 in the channel width direction of the transistor 200. The insulator 224 has a projection, whereby the side surface of the oxide 230 b is also covered with the conductor 260. For example, the bottom surface of the conductor 260 in a region where the insulator 224 and the oxide 230 c are in contact with each other is preferably positioned closer to the substrate than the bottom surface of the oxide 230 b by adjusting the shape of the projection of the insulator 224. In other words, the transistor 200 has a structure where the oxide 230 b can be electrically surrounded by electric fields of the conductor 205 and the conductor 260. A structure where the oxide 230 b is electrically surrounded by electric fields of the conductors is referred to as a surrounded channel (s-channel) structure. In the transistor 200 with an s-channel structure, the channel can be formed in the whole oxide 230 b (bulk). In the s-channel structure, the drain current of the transistor can be increased, so that a larger amount of on-state current (current which flows between the source and the drain when the transistor is on) can be obtained. Furthermore, the entire channel formation region of the oxide 230 b can be depleted by the electric fields of the conductors 205 and 260. Accordingly, the off-state current of the s-channel transistor can be further reduced. When the channel width is shortened, the effects of the s-channel structure, such as an increase in on-state current and a reduction in off-state current, can be enhanced.

<Transistor Structure 3>

FIGS. 3A to 3C illustrate another example applicable to the transistor 200. FIG. 3A illustrates a top surface of the transistor 200. For simplification of the figure, some films are not illustrated in FIG. 3A. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line X1-X2 in FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line Y1-Y2 in FIG. 3A.

Note that in the transistor 200 illustrated in FIGS. 3A to 3C, components having the same function as the components in the transistor 200 in FIGS. 1A to 1C are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the structure illustrated in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the conductors functioning as the source and the drain each have a stacked-layered structure. It is preferable that a conductor which is highly adhesive to the oxide 230 b be used as the conductors 240 a and 240 b, and a material with high conductivity be used as conductors 241 a and 241 b. The conductors 240 a and 240 b are preferably formed by an ALD method. The use of an ALD method or the like can improve the coverage.

For example, when metal oxide including indium is used as the oxide 230 b, titanium nitride or the like may be used as the conductors 240 a and 240 b. When a material with high conductivity, such as tantalum, tungsten, copper, or aluminum, is used as the conductors 241 a and 241 b, the transistor 200 with high reliability and low power consumption can be provided.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3B and 3C, the oxide 230 b is covered with the conductor 205 and the conductor 260 in the channel width direction of the transistor 200. The insulator 222 has a projection, whereby the side surface of the oxide 230 b is also covered with the conductor 260.

Here, when a high-k material such as hafnium oxide is used as the insulator 222, the equivalent oxide (SiO₂) thickness (EOT) of the insulator 222 can be small because the insulator 222 has a high relative dielectric constant. Accordingly, the distance between the conductor 205 and the oxide 230 can be increased owing to the physical thickness of the insulator 222, without reduction in the influence of the electric field which is applied from the conductor 205 to the oxide 230. Thus, the distance between the conductor 205 and the oxide 230 can be adjusted by changing the thickness of the insulator 222.

For example, the bottom surface of the conductor 260 in a region where the insulator 222 and the oxide 230 c are in contact with each other is preferably positioned closer to the substrate than the bottom surface of the oxide 230 b by adjusting the shape of the projection of the insulator 224. In other words, the transistor 200 has a structure where the oxide 230 b can be electrically surrounded by electric fields of the conductor 205 and the conductor 260. A structure where the oxide 230 b is electrically surrounded by electric fields of the conductors is referred to as a surrounded channel (s-channel) structure. In the transistor 200 with an s-channel structure, the channel can be formed in the whole oxide 230 b (bulk). In the s-channel structure, the drain current of the transistor can be increased, so that a larger amount of on-state current (current which flows between the source and the drain when the transistor is on) can be obtained. Furthermore, the entire channel formation region of the oxide 230 b can be depleted by the electric fields of the conductors 205 and 260. Accordingly, the off-state current of the s-channel transistor can be further reduced. When the channel width is shortened, the effects of the s-channel structure, such as an increase in on-state current and a reduction in off-state current, can be enhanced.

<Transistor Structure 4>

FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate another example applicable to the transistor 200. FIG. 4A illustrates a top surface of the transistor 200. For simplification of the figure, some films are not illustrated in FIG. 4A. FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line X1-X2 in FIG. 4A, and FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line Y1-Y2 in FIG. 4A.

Note that in the transistor 200 illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C, components having the same function as the components in the transistor 200 in FIGS. 1A to 1C are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the transistor 200 illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C, the oxide 230 c, the insulator 250, and the conductor 260 are formed in an opening formed in the insulator 280. Furthermore, one end portion of each of the conductors 240 a and 240 b is aligned with an end portion of the opening formed in the insulator 280. Furthermore, three end portions of each of the conductors 240 a and 240 b are aligned with parts of end portions of each of the oxides 230 a and 230 b. Therefore, the conductors 240 a and 240 b can be formed concurrently with the oxide 230 or the opening in the insulator 280. Accordingly, the number of masks and steps can be reduced, and yield and productivity can be improved.

The conductor 240 a, the conductor 240 b, and the oxide 230 b are in contact with the insulator 280 having the oxygen-excess region with the oxide 230 d positioned therebetween. Thus, since the oxide 230 d exists between the insulator 280 and the oxide 230 b including the region where the channel is formed, impurities such as hydrogen, water, and halogen can be prevented from diffusing from the insulator 280 into the oxide 230 b.

Since the transistor 200 illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C has a structure in which the conductors 240 a and 240 b hardly overlap with the conductor 260, the parasitic capacitance added to the conductor 260 can be reduced. Thus, the transistor 200 with a high operation frequency can be provided.

<Transistor Structure 5>

FIGS. 5A to 5C illustrate another example applicable to the transistor 200. FIG. 5A illustrates a top surface of the transistor 200. For simplification of the figure, some films are not illustrated in FIG. 5A. FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line X1-X2 in FIG. 5A, and FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view taken along the dashed-dotted line Y1-Y2 in FIG. 5A.

Note that in the transistor 200 illustrated in FIGS. 5A to 5C, components having the same function as the components in the transistor 200 in FIGS. 4A to 4C are denoted by the same reference numerals.

An insulator 285 and an insulator 286 are formed over the insulator 282.

The oxide 230 c, the insulator 250, and the conductor 260 are formed in an opening formed in the insulator 280. Furthermore, one end portion of each of the conductors 240 a and 240 b is aligned with an end portion of the opening portion formed in the insulator 280. Furthermore, three end portions of each of the conductors 240 a and 240 b are aligned with parts of end portions of each of the oxides 230 a and 230 b. Therefore, the conductors 240 a and 240 b can be formed concurrently with the oxides 230 a and 230 b or the opening portion in the insulator 280. Accordingly, the number of masks and steps can be reduced, and yield and productivity can be improved.

The conductor 240 a, the conductor 240 b, and the oxide 230 b are in contact with the insulator 280 having the oxygen-excess region with the oxide 230 d positioned therebetween. Thus, since the oxide 230 d exists between the insulator 280 and the oxide 230 b including the region where the channel is formed, impurities such as hydrogen, water, and halogen can be prevented from diffusing from the insulator 280 into the oxide 230 b.

In addition, since a high-resistance offset region is not formed in the transistor 200 illustrated in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the on-state current of the transistor 200 can be increased.

<Method for Manufacturing Semiconductor Device>

An example of a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device illustrated in FIGS. 1A to 1C is described below with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6E, FIGS. 7A to 7D, FIGS. 8A to 8D, and FIGS. 9A and 9B.

First, a substrate is prepared (not illustrated). Although there is no particular limitation on the substrate, it preferably has heat resistance high enough to withstand heat treatment performed later. For example, a glass substrate of barium borosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, or the like, a ceramic substrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate can be used. Alternatively, a single crystal semiconductor substrate or a polycrystalline semiconductor substrate of silicon, silicon carbide, or the like; a compound semiconductor substrate of silicon germanium, gallium arsenide, indium arsenide, or indium gallium arsenide; a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate; a germanium-on-insulator (GOI) substrate; or the like can be used. Further alternatively, any of these substrates provided with a semiconductor element may be used as the substrate.

Further alternatively, a flexible substrate may be used as the substrate to manufacture the semiconductor device. To manufacture a flexible semiconductor device, a transistor may be directly formed over a flexible substrate; or alternatively, a transistor may be formed over a manufacturing substrate and then separated from the substrate and transferred to a flexible substrate. In order that the transistor be separated from the manufacturing substrate to be transferred to the flexible substrate, it is preferable to provide a separation layer between the manufacturing substrate and the transistor including an oxide semiconductor.

Next, an insulator 214 and an insulator 216 are formed. Then, a resist mask 290 is formed over the insulator 216 by a lithography process or the like to remove unnecessary portions of the insulators 214 and 216 (FIG. 6A). After that, the resist mask 290 is removed; thus, an opening can be formed.

Here, a method for processing a film is described. To process a film finely, a variety of fine processing techniques can be used. For example, it is possible to use a method in which a resist mask formed by a lithography process or the like is subjected to slimming treatment. Alternatively, a dummy pattern is formed by a lithography process or the like, the dummy pattern is provided with a sidewall and is then removed, and a film is etched using the remaining sidewall as a resist mask. In order to achieve a high aspect ratio, anisotropic dry etching is preferably used for etching of a film. Alternatively, a hard mask formed of an inorganic film or a metal film may be used.

As light used to form the resist mask, light with an i-line (with a wavelength of 365 nm), light with a g-line (with a wavelength of 436 nm), light with an h-line (with a wavelength of 405 nm), or light in which the i-line, the g-line, and the h-line are mixed can be used. Alternatively, ultraviolet light, KrF laser light, ArF laser light, or the like can be used. Exposure may be performed by liquid immersion exposure technique. As the light for the exposure, extreme ultra-violet light (EUV) or X-rays may be used. Instead of the light for the exposure, an electron beam can be used. It is preferable to use extreme ultra-violet light (EUV), X-rays, or an electron beam because extremely minute processing can be performed. Note that in the case of performing exposure by scanning of a beam such as an electron beam, a photomask is not needed.

An organic resin film having a function of improving the adhesion between a film to be processed and a resist film may be formed before the resist film serving as a resist mask is formed. The organic resin film can be formed to planarize a surface by covering a step under the film by a spin coating method or the like, and thus can reduce variation in thickness of the resist mask over the organic resin film. In the case of fine processing, in particular, a material serving as a film preventing reflection of light for the exposure is preferably used for the organic resin film. Examples of the organic resin film having such a function include a bottom anti-reflection coating (BARC) film. The organic resin film may be removed at the same time as the removal of the resist mask or after the removal of the resist mask.

Next, a conductor 205A and a conductor 205B are formed over the insulator 214 and the insulator 216. The conductor 205A and the conductor 205B can be formed by, for example, a sputtering method, an evaporation method, or a CVD method (including a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, a PECVD method, and the like). It is preferable to use a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, or an ALD method in order to reduce plasma damage (FIG. 6B).

Then, unnecessary portions of the conductors 205A and 205B are removed. For example, part of the conductor 205A and part of the conductor 205B are removed by etch-back process, a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, or the like until the insulator 216 is exposed, whereby the conductor 205 is formed (FIG. 6C). At that time, the insulator 216 can be used as a stopper layer, and the thickness of the insulator 216 is reduced in some cases.

The CMP process is a process for planarizing a surface of an object to be processed by a combination of chemical and mechanical actions. More specifically, the CMP process is a process in which a polishing cloth is attached to a polishing stage, the polishing stage and the object to be processed are each rotated or swung while a slurry (an abrasive) is supplied between the object to be processed and the polishing cloth, and the surface of the object to be processed is polished by chemical reaction between the slurry and the surface of the object to be processed and by action of mechanical polishing between the object to be processed and the polishing cloth.

Note that the CMP process may be performed only once or plural times. When the CMP process is performed plural times, first polishing is preferably performed with a high polishing rate followed by final polishing with a low polishing rate. In this manner, polishing processes using different polishing rates may be used in combination.

Then, the insulator 220, the insulator 222, and the insulator 224 are formed (FIG. 6D).

The insulators 220, 222, and 224 can each be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming an insulator 320. It is particularly preferable to use a high-k material such as hafnium oxide as the insulator 222.

The insulators 220, 222, and 224 can be formed using a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, (including a thermal CVD method, a metal organic CVD (MOCVD) method, a plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) method, and the like), a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method, a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method, or the like. In particular, it is preferable that the insulators be formed by a CVD method, further preferably an ALD method, or the like because coverage can be further improved. It is preferable to use a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, or an ALD method in order to reduce plasma damage. The insulators can also be formed using silicon oxide films with high step coverage that are formed by reacting tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), silane, or the like with oxygen, nitrous oxide, or the like.

Note that the insulators 220, 222, and 224 are preferably formed successively. By successive formation, impurities are not attached to the interfaces between the insulators 220 and 222 and between the insulators 222 and 224, resulting in high reliability of the insulators.

Then, an oxide 230A to be the oxide 230 a and an oxide 230B to be the oxide 230 b are sequentially formed. The oxides are preferably formed successively without exposure to the air.

Then, a conductive film 240A to be the conductors 240 a and 240 b is formed over the oxide 230A. As the conductive film 240A, a material which has a barrier property against hydrogen or oxygen and has high oxidation resistance is preferably used. Although the conductive film 240A has a single-layer structure in the figure, it may have a structure of two or more stacked layers. Then, a resist mask 292 is formed by a method similar to that described above (FIG. 6E).

An unnecessary portion of the conductive film 240A is removed by etching using the resist mask 292 to form a conductive layer 240B having an island shape (FIG. 7A). After that, unnecessary portions of the oxides 230A and 230B are removed by etching using the conductive layer 240B as a mask.

At that time, the insulator 224 may also be processed into an island-shape. For example, even when the total thickness of the insulators 220, 222, and 224 is small, the use of the insulator 222 with a barrier property as an etching stopper film can prevent over-etching of the wiring layer positioned below the insulators. In addition, when the total thickness of the insulators 220, 222, and 224 is small, a voltage is effectively applied from the conductor 205; therefore, the transistor with low power consumption can be obtained.

Then, the resist mask is removed. Thus, a stacked-layer structure of the island-shaped oxide 230 a, the island-shaped oxide 230 b, and the island-shaped conductive layer 240B can be formed (FIG. 7B).

Next, heat treatment is preferably performed (arrows in FIG. 7C denote the heat treatment). The heat treatment may be performed at a temperature higher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., preferably higher than or equal to 320° C. and lower than or equal to 380° C., in an inert gas atmosphere, in an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas at 10 ppm or more, or under reduced pressure. Alternatively, the heat treatment may be performed in such a manner that heat treatment is performed in an inert gas atmosphere, and then another heat treatment is performed in an atmosphere containing an oxidization gas at 10 ppm or more, in order to compensate released oxygen. The heat treatment can remove hydrogen that is an impurity for the oxides 230 a and 230 b. In addition, oxygen can be supplied from the insulator formed under the oxide 230 a to the oxides 230 a and 230 b, so that oxygen vacancies in the oxides can be reduced.

Next, a resist mask 294 is formed over the island-shaped conductive layer 240B by a method similar to that described above (FIG. 7D). Then, an unnecessary portion of the conductive layer 240B is removed by etching, and then the resist mask 294 is removed, whereby the conductor 240 a and the conductor 240 b are formed (FIG. 8A). At that time, the insulator 224 or the insulator 222 may be over-etched to obtain an s-channel structure.

Next, heat treatment is preferably performed (arrows in FIG. 8B denote the heat treatment). The heat treatment may be performed at a temperature higher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., preferably higher than or equal to 320° C. and lower than or equal to 380° C., in an inert gas atmosphere, in an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas at 10 ppm or more, or under reduced pressure. Alternatively, the heat treatment may be performed in such a manner that heat treatment is performed in an inert gas atmosphere, and then another heat treatment is performed in an atmosphere containing an oxidization gas at 10 ppm or more, in order to compensate released oxygen. The heat treatment can remove hydrogen that is an impurity for the oxides 230 a and 230 b. In addition, oxygen can be supplied from the insulator formed under the oxide 230 a to the oxides 230 a and 230 b, so that oxygen vacancies in the oxides can be reduced. In the case where the heat treatment is performed using an oxidizing gas, an oxidizing gas is in direct contact with the region where the channel is formed, whereby oxygen vacancies included in the region where the channel is formed can be reduced.

Then, the oxide 230 c, the insulator 250, and a conductive film 260A to be the conductor 260 are sequentially formed. As the conductive film 260A, a material which has a barrier property against hydrogen or oxygen and has high oxidation resistance is preferably used. Although the conductive film 260A has a single-layer structure in the figure, it may have a structure of two or more stacked layers.

For example, the stacked two layers may be formed of the same material. A first conductive film is formed by a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, or an ALD method, for example. In particular, an ALD method is preferably used. The application of an ALD method or the like can reduce damage to the insulator 250 which is caused during deposition. Furthermore, an ALD method or the like is preferable because it can improve the coverage. Thus, the transistor 200 with high reliability can be provided.

Then, a second conductive film is formed by a sputtering method. At that time, since the first conductive film is provided over the insulator 250, damage caused during deposition of the second conductive film can be prevented from influencing the insulator 250. Since the deposition rate in a sputtering method is higher than that in an ALD method, the productivity can be improved with a high yield. Note that it is preferable to use a deposition gas which does not contain chlorine in deposition of the conductive film 260A.

Next, a resist mask 296 is formed over the conductive film 260A by a method similar to that described above (FIG. 8C). Then, an unnecessary portion of the conductive film 260A is removed by etching to form the conductor 260. After that, the resist mask 296 is removed (FIG. 8D).

Subsequently, the insulator 280 is formed over the conductor 260. The insulator 280 is an insulator containing oxygen, such as a silicon oxide film or a silicon oxynitride film. The insulator containing excess oxygen can be formed using a silicon oxide film or a silicon oxynitride film containing a large amount of oxygen as a result of deposition by a CVD method or a sputtering method under the conditions which are set as appropriate. After the silicon oxide film or the silicon oxynitride film is formed, oxygen may be added by an ion implantation method, an ion doping method, or plasma treatment.

In particular, oxygen plasma treatment is preferably performed (arrows in FIG. 9A denote the plasma treatment). In typical oxygen plasma treatment, the surface of an oxide semiconductor is processed by radicals generated from an oxygen gas by glow discharge plasma. However, as a gas from which plasma is generated, a mixed gas of an oxygen gas and a rare gas may be used, as well as oxygen. For example, oxygen plasma treatment may be performed at a temperature higher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., preferably higher than or equal to 300° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., in an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas or under reduced pressure.

The oxygen plasma treatment dehydrates or dehydrogenates the insulator 280 and the oxide 230 and introduces excess oxygen to the insulator 280; as a result, an oxygen-excess region can be formed. In addition, oxygen vacancies are generated in the dehydrated or dehydrogenated oxide 230 and the resistance of the oxide 230 is reduced. Meanwhile, the excess oxygen in the insulator 280 compensates oxygen vacancies of the oxide 230. Therefore, owing to the oxygen plasma treatment, hydrogen and water that serve as impurities can be removed from the insulator 280 while an oxygen-excess region is formed in the insulator 280. In addition, hydrogen and water that serve as impurities can be removed from the oxide 230 while oxygen vacancies in the oxide 230 are compensated. Thus, the electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be improved and variation in the electrical characteristics thereof can be reduced.

Then, the insulator 282 is formed over the insulator 280. The insulator 282 is preferably formed with a sputtering apparatus. By using a sputtering method, an oxygen-excess region can be formed easily in the insulator 280 positioned under the insulator 282.

During deposition by a sputtering method, ions and sputtered particles exist between the target and the substrate. For example, a potential E₀ is supplied to the target, to which a power source is connected. A potential E₁ such as a ground potential is supplied to the substrate. Note that the substrate may be electrically floating. In addition, there is a region at a potential E₂ between the target and the substrate. Note that the potential relationship is E₂>E₁>E₀.

The ions in plasma are accelerated by a potential difference (E₂−E₀) and collide with the target; accordingly, sputtered particles are ejected from the target. These sputtered particles are attached to a deposition surface and deposited thereover; as a result, a film is formed. Some ions recoil by the target and might be taken, as recoil ions, into the insulator 280 positioned below the formed film, through the formed film. The ions in the plasma are accelerated by a potential difference (E₂−E₁) and collide with the deposition surface. At that time, some ions reach the inside of the insulator 280. The ions are taken into the insulator 280; accordingly, a region into which the ions are taken is formed in the insulator 280. That is, an oxygen-excess region is formed in the insulator 280 in the case where the ions include oxygen.

Introduction of excess oxygen to the insulator 280 can form an oxygen-excess region. The excess oxygen in the insulator 280 is supplied to the oxide 230 and can compensate oxygen vacancies in the oxide 230. Here, in the case where a conductor with high oxidation resistance is used as each of the conductors 240 a and 240 b and the conductor 260 in contact with the insulator 280, excess oxygen in the insulator 280 is not absorbed by the conductor 260 and the conductors 240 a and 240 b but can be efficiently supplied to the oxide 230. Thus, the electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be improved and variation in the electrical characteristics thereof can be reduced.

Through the above steps, the transistor 200 of one embodiment of the present invention can be manufactured.

The structures, the methods, and the like described in this embodiment can be combined as appropriate with any of the structures, the methods, and the like described in the other embodiments and examples.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment, one embodiment of a semiconductor device is described with reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B, FIG. 11, FIG. 12, FIG. 13, FIG. 14, FIGS. 15A and 15B, FIGS. 16A and 16B, FIGS. 17A and 17B, FIG. 18, FIGS. 19A to 19B, FIG. 20, FIGS. 21A to 21D, FIGS. 22A to 22C, FIGS. 23A and 23B, FIGS. 24A and 24B, FIGS. 25A and 25B, FIG. 26, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, and FIG. 29.

Structure Examples

Examples of a semiconductor device (memory device) including a transistor of one embodiment of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 10A and 1B, FIG. 11, FIG. 12, FIG. 13, FIG. 14, FIGS. 15A and 15B, and FIGS. 16A and 16B. Note that FIG. 10A is a circuit diagram of FIGS. 11 to 14. FIGS. 15A and 15B and FIGS. 16A and 16B show end portions of regions where semiconductor devices shown in FIGS. 11 to 14 are formed.

<Circuit Configuration of Semiconductor Device>

Semiconductor devices shown in FIG. 10A and FIGS. 11 to 14 each include a transistor 300, a transistor 200, and a capacitor 100.

The transistor 200 is a transistor in which a channel is formed in a semiconductor layer including an oxide semiconductor. Since the off-state current of the transistor 200 is small, by using the transistor 200 in a semiconductor device (memory device), stored data can be retained for a long time. In other words, it is possible to obtain a semiconductor device (memory device) which does not require refresh operation or has an extremely low frequency of the refresh operation, which leads to a sufficient reduction in power consumption.

In FIG. 10A, a wiring 3001 is electrically connected to a source of the transistor 300. A wiring 3002 is electrically connected to a drain of the transistor 300. A wiring 3003 is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 200. A wiring 3004 is electrically connected to a gate of the transistor 200. A gate of the transistor 300 and the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 200 are electrically connected to one electrode of the capacitor 100. A wiring 3005 is electrically connected to the other electrode of the capacitor 100.

The semiconductor device in FIG. 10A has a feature that the potential of the gate of the transistor 300 can be retained, and thus enables writing, retaining, and reading of data as follows.

Writing and retaining of data will be described. First, the potential of the wiring 3004 is set to a potential at which the transistor 200 is turned on, so that the transistor 200 is turned on. Accordingly, the potential of the wiring 3003 is supplied to a node FG where the gate of the transistor 300 and the one electrode of the capacitor 100 are electrically connected to each other. That is, a predetermined charge is supplied to the gate of the transistor 300 (writing). Here, one of two kinds of charges providing different potential levels (hereinafter referred to as a low-level charge and a high-level charge) is supplied. After that, the potential of the wiring 3004 is set to a potential at which the transistor 200 is turned off, so that the transistor 200 is turned off. Thus, the charge is retained at the node FG (retaining).

In the case where the off-state current of the transistor 200 is low, the electric charge of the node FG is retained for a long time.

Next, reading of data is described. An appropriate potential (a reading potential) is supplied to the wiring 3005 while a predetermined potential (a constant potential) is supplied to the wiring 3001, whereby the potential of the wiring 3002 varies depending on the amount of charge retained in the node FG. This is because in the case of using an n-channel transistor as the transistor 300, an apparent threshold voltage V_(th) _(_) _(H) at the time when the high-level electric charge is given to the gate of the transistor 300 is lower than an apparent threshold voltage V_(th) _(_) _(L) at the time when the low-level electric charge is given to the gate of the transistor 300. Here, an apparent threshold voltage refers to the potential of the wiring 3005 which is needed to make the transistor 300 be in “on state”. Thus, the potential of the wiring 3005 is set to a potential V₀ which is between V_(th) _(_) _(H) and V_(th) _(_) _(L), whereby charge supplied to the node FG can be determined. For example, in the case where the high-level charge is supplied to the node FG in writing and the potential of the wiring 3005 is V₀ (>V_(th) _(_) _(H)), the transistor 300 is brought into “on state”. On the other hand, in the case where the low-level charge is supplied to the node FG in writing, even when the potential of the wiring 3005 is V₀ (<V_(th) _(_) _(L)), the transistor 300 remains in “off state”. Thus, the data retained in the node FG can be read by determining the potential of the wiring 3002.

By arranging semiconductor devices each having the structure illustrated in FIG. 10A in a matrix, a memory device (memory cell array) can be formed.

Note that in the case where memory cells are arrayed, it is necessary that data of a desired memory cell is read in read operation. A configuration in which only data of a desired memory cell can be read by supplying a potential at which the transistor 300 is in “off state” regardless of the charge supplied to the node FG, that is, a potential lower than V_(th) _(_) _(H) to the wiring 3005 of memory cells from which data is not read may be employed. As another example, a configuration in which only data of a desired memory cell can be read by supplying a potential at which the transistor 300 is in “on state” regardless of the charge supplied to the node FG, that is, a potential higher than V_(th) _(_) _(L) to the wiring 3005 of memory cells from which data is not read may be employed.

<Circuit Configuration 2 of Semiconductor Device>

A semiconductor device in FIG. 10B is different from the semiconductor device in FIG. 10A in that the transistor 300 is not provided. Also in this case, data can be written and retained in a manner similar to that of the semiconductor device in FIG. 10A.

Reading of data in the semiconductor device in FIG. 10B is described. When the transistor 200 is brought into an on state, the wiring 3003 which is in a floating state and the capacitor 100 are brought into conduction, and the electric charge is redistributed between the wiring 3003 and the capacitor 100. As a result, the potential of the wiring 3003 is changed. The amount of change in the potential of the wiring 3003 varies depending on the potential of the one electrode of the capacitor 100 (or the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor 100).

For example, the potential of the wiring 3003 after the charge redistribution is (C_(B)×V_(B0)+C×V)/(C_(B)+C), where V is the potential of the one electrode of the capacitor 100, C is the capacitance of the capacitor 100, C_(B) is the capacitance component of the wiring 3003, and V_(B0) is the potential of the wiring 3003 before the charge redistribution. Thus, it can be found that, assuming that the memory cell is in either of two states in which the potential of the one electrode of the capacitor 100 is V₁ and V₀ (V₁>V₀), the potential of the wiring 3003 in the case of retaining the potential V₁ (=(C_(B)×V_(B0)+C×V₁)/(C_(B)+C)) is higher than the potential of the wiring 3003 in the case of retaining the potential V₀ (=(C_(B)×V_(B0)+C×V₀)/(C_(B)+C)).

Then, by comparing the potential of the wiring 3003 with a predetermined potential, data can be read.

In this case, a transistor including a semiconductor such as silicon may be used for a driver circuit for driving a memory cell, and a transistor including the oxide may be stacked over the driver circuit as the transistor 200.

When including a transistor using an oxide semiconductor and having a low off-state current, the semiconductor device described above can retain stored data for a long time. In other words, refresh operation becomes unnecessary or the frequency of the refresh operation can be extremely low, which leads to a sufficient reduction in power consumption. Moreover, stored data can be retained for a long time even when power is not supplied (note that a potential is preferably fixed).

Furthermore, in the semiconductor device, high voltage is not needed for writing data and deterioration of elements is less likely to occur. Unlike in a conventional nonvolatile memory, for example, it is not necessary to inject and extract electrons into and from a floating gate; thus, a problem such as deterioration of an insulator is not caused. That is, unlike a conventional nonvolatile memory, the semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention does not have a limit on the number of times data can be rewritten, and the reliability thereof is drastically improved. Furthermore, data is written depending on the state of the transistor (on or off), whereby high-speed operation can be easily achieved.

<Structure 1 of Semiconductor Device>

The semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention includes the transistor 300, the transistor 200, and the capacitor 100 as shown in FIG. 11. The transistor 200 is provided over the transistor 300, and the capacitor 100 is provided over the transistor 300 and the transistor 200.

The transistor 300 is provided over a substrate 311 and includes a conductor 316, an insulator 314, a semiconductor region 312 that is a part of the substrate 311, and low-resistance regions 318 a and 318 b functioning as a source region and a drain region.

The transistor 300 may be a p-channel transistor or an n-channel transistor.

It is preferable that a region of the semiconductor region 312 where a channel is formed, a region in the vicinity thereof, the low-resistance regions 318 a and 318 b functioning as a source region and a drain region, and the like contain a semiconductor such as a silicon-based semiconductor, more preferably single crystal silicon. Alternatively, a material including germanium (Ge), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium aluminum arsenide (GaAlAs), or the like may be contained. Silicon whose effective mass is controlled by applying stress to the crystal lattice and thereby changing the lattice spacing may be contained. Alternatively, the transistor 300 may be a high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) with GaAs, GaAlAs, or the like.

The low-resistance regions 318 a and 318 b contain an element which imparts n-type conductivity, such as arsenic or phosphorus, or an element which imparts p-type conductivity, such as boron, in addition to a semiconductor material used for the semiconductor region 312.

The conductor 316 functioning as a gate electrode can be formed using a semiconductor material such as silicon containing the element which imparts n-type conductivity, such as arsenic or phosphorus, or the element which imparts p-type conductivity, such as boron, or a conductive material such as a metal material, an alloy material, or a metal oxide material.

Note that a work function of a conductor is determined by a material of the conductor, whereby the threshold voltage can be adjusted. Specifically, it is preferable to use titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, or the like as the conductor. Furthermore, in order to ensure the conductivity and embeddability of the conductor, it is preferable to use a laminated layer of metal materials such as tungsten and aluminum as the conductor. In particular, tungsten is preferable in terms of heat resistance.

The transistor 330 may be a planar transistor as shown in FIG. 11. In the case of using the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 10B, the transistor 300 may be omitted.

Note that the transistor 300 shown in FIG. 11 is just an example and is not limited to the structure shown therein; an appropriate transistor may be used in accordance with a circuit configuration or a driving method.

The insulator 320, an insulator 322, an insulator 324, and an insulator 326 are stacked sequentially and cover the transistor 300.

The insulator 320, the insulator 322, the insulator 324, and the insulator 326 can be formed using, for example, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, aluminum nitride oxide, aluminum nitride, or the like.

The insulator 322 functions as a planarization film for eliminating a level difference caused by the transistor 300 or the like underlying the insulator 322. A top surface of the insulator 322 may be planarized by planarization treatment using a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) method or the like to increase the level of planarity.

The insulator 324 is preferably formed using, for example, a film having a barrier property that prevents hydrogen or impurities from diffusing from the substrate 311, the transistor 300, or the like into a region where the transistor 200 is formed.

As an example of the film having a barrier property against hydrogen, silicon nitride formed by a CVD method can be given. Diffusion of hydrogen into a semiconductor element including an oxide semiconductor, such as the transistor 200, degrades the characteristics of the semiconductor element in some cases. Therefore, a film that prevents hydrogen diffusion is preferably provided between the transistor 200 and the transistor 300. Specifically, the film that prevents hydrogen diffusion is a film from which hydrogen is less likely to be released.

The amount of released hydrogen can be measured by thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS), for example. The amount of hydrogen released from the insulator 324 that is converted into hydrogen atoms per area of the insulator 324 is less than or equal to 10×10¹⁵ atoms/cm², preferably less than or equal to 5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm² in TDS analysis in the range of 50° C. to 500° C., for example.

Note that the dielectric constant of the insulator 326 is preferably lower than that of the insulator 324. For example, the relative dielectric constant of the insulator 324 is preferably lower than 4, more preferably lower than 3. For example, the relative dielectric constant of the insulator 326 is preferably 0.7 times or less that of the insulator 326, more preferably 0.6 times or less that of the insulator 324. In the case where a material with a low dielectric constant is used as an interlayer film, the parasitic capacitance between wirings can be reduced.

A conductor 328, a conductor 330, and the like that are electrically connected to the capacitor 100 or the transistor 200 are embedded in the insulator 320, the insulator 322, the insulator 324, and the insulator 326. Note that the conductor 328 and the conductor 330 each function as a plug or a wiring. Note that a plurality of structures of conductors functioning as plugs or wirings are collectively denoted by the same reference numeral in some cases, as described later. Furthermore, in this specification and the like, a wiring and a plug electrically connected to the wiring may be a single component. That is, there are cases where a part of a conductor functions as a wiring and a part of a conductor functions as a plug.

As a material of each of plugs and wirings (e.g., the conductor 328 and the conductor 330), a conductive material such as a metal material, an alloy material, a metal nitride material, or a metal oxide material can be used in a single-layer structure or a stacked-layer structure. It is preferable to use a high-melting-point material that has both heat resistance and conductivity, such as tungsten or molybdenum, and it is particularly preferable to use tungsten. Alternatively, a low-resistance conductive material such as aluminum or copper is preferably used. The use of a low-resistance conductive material can reduce wiring resistance.

A wiring layer may be provided over the insulator 326 and the conductor 330. For example, in FIG. 11, an insulator 350, an insulator 352, and an insulator 354 are stacked sequentially. Furthermore, a conductor 356 is formed in the insulator 350, the insulator 352, and the insulator 354. The conductor 356 functions as a plug or a wiring. Note that the conductor 356 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the conductor 328 and the conductor 330.

Note that for example, the insulator 350 is preferably formed using an insulator having a barrier property with respect to hydrogen, like the insulator 324. Furthermore, the conductor 356 preferably includes a conductor having a barrier property against hydrogen. The conductor having a barrier property against hydrogen is formed particularly in an opening of the insulator 350 having a barrier property against hydrogen. In such a structure, the transistor 300 and the transistor 200 can be separated by a barrier layer, so that diffusion of hydrogen from the transistor 300 to the transistor 200 can be prevented.

Note that as the conductor having a barrier property with respect to hydrogen, tantalum nitride may be used, for example. By stacking tantalum nitride and tungsten, which has high conductivity, diffusion of hydrogen from the transistor 300 can be prevented while the conductivity of a wiring is ensured. In this case, a tantalum nitride layer having a barrier property with respect to hydrogen is preferably in contact with the insulator 350 having a barrier property with respect to hydrogen.

An insulator 358, an insulator 210, an insulator 212, an insulator 213, the insulator 214, and the insulator 216 are stacked sequentially over the insulator 354. A material having a barrier property against oxygen or hydrogen is preferably used for one or all of the insulators 358, 210, 212, 213, 214, and 216.

The insulators 358 and 212 are preferably formed using, for example, a film having a barrier property that prevents hydrogen or impurities from diffusing from a region where the substrate 311 or the transistor 300 is formed or the like into a region where the transistor 200 is formed. Therefore, the insulators 358 and 212 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the insulator 324.

As an example of the film having a barrier property against hydrogen, silicon nitride formed by a CVD method can be given. Diffusion of hydrogen into a semiconductor element including an oxide semiconductor, such as the transistor 200, degrades the characteristics of the semiconductor element in some cases. Therefore, a film that prevents hydrogen diffusion is preferably provided between the transistor 200 and the transistor 300. Specifically, the film that prevents hydrogen diffusion is a film from which hydrogen is less likely to be released.

As the insulator 213 and the insulator 214, metal oxide such as aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, or tantalum oxide is preferably used, for example.

In particular, aluminum oxide has an excellent blocking effect that prevents permeation of oxygen and impurities such as hydrogen and moisture which cause a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor. Accordingly, the use of aluminum oxide can prevent entry of impurities such as hydrogen and moisture into the transistor 200 in and after a manufacturing process of the transistor. In addition, release of oxygen from oxide in the transistor 200 can be prevented. Therefore, aluminum oxide is suitably used as a protective film for the transistor 200.

For example, the insulators 210 and 216 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the insulator 320. For example, a silicon oxide film, a silicon oxynitride film, or the like can be used as the insulator 216.

A conductor 218, a conductor (the conductor 205) forming the transistor 200, and the like are embedded in the insulators 358, 210, 212, 213, 214, and 216. Note that the conductor 218 functions as a plug or a wiring that is electrically connected to the capacitor 100 or the transistor 300. The conductor 218 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the conductor 328 and the conductor 330.

In particular, the conductor 218 in a region in contact with the insulators 358, 212, 213, and 214 is preferably a conductor having a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, and water. In such a structure, the transistor 300 and the transistor 200 can be completely separated by a layer having a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, and water, so that diffusion of hydrogen from the transistor 300 into the transistor 200 can be prevented.

Part of the structure of the transistor 200 over the insulator 220 is provided above the insulator 216. Note that the transistor structure described in any of the above embodiments can be used as the structure of the transistor 200. Note that the transistor 200 shown in FIG. 11 is just an example and is not limited to the structure shown therein; an appropriate transistor may be used in accordance with a circuit configuration or a driving method.

An insulator 280 is provided over the transistor 200. The insulator 280 preferably includes oxide containing oxygen in excess of that in the stoichiometric composition. That is, in the insulator 280, a region containing oxygen in excess of that in the stoichiometric composition (hereinafter also referred to as oxygen-excess region) is preferably formed. In particular, in the case of using an oxide semiconductor in the transistor 200, when an insulator including an oxygen-excess region is provided in an interlayer film or the like in the vicinity of the transistor 200, oxygen vacancies in the transistor 200 are reduced, whereby the reliability can be improved.

As the insulator including the oxygen-excess region, specifically, an oxide material that releases part of oxygen by heating is preferably used. An oxide that releases part of oxygen by heating is an oxide film in which the amount of released oxygen converted into oxygen atoms is greater than or equal to 1.0×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, preferably greater than or equal to 3.0×10²⁰ atoms/cm³ in TDS analysis. Note that the temperature of the film surface in the TDS analysis is preferably higher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 700° C., or higher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 500° C.

For example, as such a material, a material containing silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride is preferably used. Alternatively, a metal oxide can be used. Note that in this specification, “silicon oxynitride” refers to a material that contains oxygen at a higher proportion than nitrogen, and “silicon nitride oxide” refers to a material that contains nitrogen at a higher proportion than oxygen.

The insulator 280 covering the transistor 200 may function as a planarization film that covers a roughness thereunder. A conductor 244 and the like are embedded in the insulator 280.

Note that the conductor 244 functions as a plug or a wiring that is electrically connected to the capacitor 100, the transistor 200, or the transistor 300. The conductor 244 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the conductor 328 and the conductor 330.

For example, when the conductor 244 is formed to have a stacked-layer structure, the conductor 244 preferably includes a conductor with high oxidation resistance. In particular, a conductor with high oxidation resistance is preferably provided in a region in contact with the insulator 280 including the oxygen-excess region. Such a structure can prevent the conductor 244 from absorbing excess oxygen from the insulator 280. Furthermore, the conductor 244 preferably includes a conductor having a barrier property against hydrogen. In particular, a conductor having a barrier property against an impurity such as hydrogen is provided in a region in contact with the insulator 280 including the oxygen-excess region, whereby diffusion of the impurity of the conductor 244, diffusion of part of the conductor 244, and diffusion of an impurity from the outside through the conductor 244 can be prevented.

A barrier layer 245 may be provided over the conductor 244. The barrier layer 245 can prevent diffusion of the impurity included in the conductor 244 and diffusion of part of the conductor 244.

Metal oxide such as aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, or tantalum oxide, metal nitride such as tantalum nitride, or the like is preferably used as the barrier layer 245. In particular, aluminum oxide has an excellent blocking effect that prevents permeation of oxygen and impurities such as hydrogen and moisture which cause a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor. Accordingly, the use of aluminum oxide can prevent entry of impurities such as hydrogen and moisture into the transistor 200 in and after a manufacturing process of the transistor.

The insulator 282, an insulator 283, an insulator 284, and an insulator 110 are stacked sequentially over the barrier layer 245 and the insulator 280. A conductor 124 and the like are embedded in the insulators 282, 283, 284, and 110. Note that the conductor 124 functions as a plug or a wiring that is electrically connected to the capacitor 100, the transistor 200, or the transistor 300. The conductor 124 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the conductor 356.

A material having a barrier property against oxygen or hydrogen is preferably used for one or all of the insulators 282, 283, 284, and 110. Thus, the insulator 282 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the insulator 214. The insulator 283 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the insulator 213. The insulator 284 can be formed using an insulator similar to that used for forming the insulator 212. The insulator 110 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the insulator 216.

As the insulator 282 and the insulator 283, metal oxide such as aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, or tantalum oxide is preferably used, for example.

In particular, aluminum oxide has an excellent blocking effect that prevents permeation of oxygen and impurities such as hydrogen and moisture which cause a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor. Accordingly, the use of aluminum oxide can prevent entry of impurities such as hydrogen and moisture into the transistor 200 in and after a manufacturing process of the transistor. In addition, release of oxygen from oxide in the transistor 200 can be prevented. Therefore, aluminum oxide is suitably used as a protective film for the transistor 200.

The insulator 284 is preferably formed using, for example, a film having a barrier property that prevents hydrogen or impurities from diffusing from a region where the capacitor 100 is formed into a region where the transistor 200 is formed. Therefore, the insulator 284 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the insulator 324.

As an example of the film having a barrier property against hydrogen, silicon nitride formed by a CVD method can be given. Diffusion of hydrogen into a semiconductor element including an oxide semiconductor, such as the transistor 200, degrades the characteristics of the semiconductor element in some cases. Therefore, a film that prevents hydrogen diffusion is preferably provided between the transistor 200 and the transistor 300. Specifically, the film that prevents hydrogen diffusion is a film from which hydrogen is less likely to be released.

Therefore, the transistor 200 and the insulator 280 including the oxygen-excess region can be positioned between a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 212, 213, and 214 and a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 282, 283, and 284. The insulators 212, 213, 214, 282, 283, and 284 each have a barrier property that prevents diffusion of oxygen or impurities such as hydrogen and water.

Oxygen released from the insulator 280 and the transistor 200 can be prevented from diffusing into the capacitor 100 or a layer where the transistor 300 is formed. Furthermore, impurities such as hydrogen and water can be prevented from diffusing from a layer over the insulator 282 and a layer under the insulator 214 into the transistor 200.

That is, oxygen can be efficiently supplied from the oxygen-excess region of the insulator 280 to the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200, so that oxygen vacancies can be reduced. Moreover, oxygen vacancies can be prevented from being formed by impurities in the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200. Thus, the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are each a cross-sectional view in the vicinity of a scribe line.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 15A, an opening is provided in the insulators 212, 213, 214, 216, 220, 222, 224, and 280 in the vicinity of a region overlapping with the scribe line (shown by a dashed-dotted line in FIG. 15A) formed in an edge of a memory cell including the transistor 200. In addition, the insulators 282, 283, and 284 are provided to cover the side surfaces of the insulators 212, 213, 214, 216, 220, 222, 224, and 280.

Accordingly, the insulators 212, 213, and 214 are in contact with the insulator 282 in the opening. The insulators 283 and 284 are stacked over the insulator 282. At that time, at least one of the insulators 212, 213, and 214 is formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the insulator 282, whereby adhesion therebetween can be improved.

In the structure, the insulator 280 and the transistor 200 can be enclosed with the insulators 212, 213, 214, 282, 283, and 284. Since the insulators 212, 213, 214, 282, 283, and 284 each have a function of preventing diffusion of oxygen, hydrogen, and water, entry and diffusion of hydrogen or water from the side surfaces of the insulators 220, 222, 224, and 280 into the transistor 200 can be prevented even when the semiconductor device described in this embodiment is subjected to scribing.

Furthermore, in the structure, excess oxygen in the insulator 280 can be prevented from diffusing into the outside of the insulators 282 and 214. Accordingly, excess oxygen in the insulator 280 is efficiently supplied to the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200. The oxygen can reduce oxygen vacancies in the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200. Thus, the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

As another example, as illustrated in FIG. 15B, openings may be provided in the insulators 212, 213, 214, 216, 220, 222, 224, and 280 on both sides of the scribe line (shown by the dashed-dotted line in FIG. 15B). Note that the number of the openings in the figure is two. A plurality of openings may be provided as appropriate.

Since the insulators 212, 213, and 214 are in contact with the insulator 282 in at least two regions in the openings provided on both sides of the scribe line, higher adhesion is obtained. Note that also in that case, when at least one of the insulators 212, 213, and 214 is formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the insulator 282, the adhesion therebetween can be improved.

Since the plurality of openings is provided, the insulator 282 can be in contact with the insulators 212, 213, and 214 in a plurality of regions. In addition, when impurities passing through the scribe line diffuse into a region which is included in the region where the insulator 214 is in contact with the insulator 282 and is the nearest to the transistor 200, a diffusion path of the impurities can be lengthened.

In such a structure, the transistor 200 and the insulator 280 can be enclosed tightly. Thus, the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

The insulator 110 and the capacitor 100 are provided over the insulator 284. The conductor 124 electrically connected to the conductor 244 is embedded in the insulators 110, 282, 283, and 284. The capacitor 100 is provided over the insulator 110 and includes a conductor 112 (a conductor 112 a and a conductor 112 b), an insulator 130, an insulator 132, an insulator 134, and a conductor 116. The conductor 124 functions as a plug or a wiring that is electrically connected to the capacitor 100, the transistor 200, or the transistor 300.

Note that the conductor 124 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the conductors 356.

The conductor 112 can be formed using a conductive material such as a metal material, an alloy material, or a metal oxide material. It is preferable to use a high-melting-point material which has both heat resistance and conductivity, such as tungsten or molybdenum, and it is particularly preferable to use tungsten. In the case where the conductor 112 is formed concurrently with another component such as a conductor, Cu (copper), Al (aluminum), or the like, which is a low-resistance metal material, may be used.

The insulators 130, 132, and 134 are provided over the conductor 112. The insulators 130, 132, and 134 each can be formed using, for example, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, aluminum nitride oxide, aluminum nitride, hafnium oxide, hafnium oxynitride, hafnium nitride oxide, hafnium nitride, or the like. Although the three-layer structure is illustrated in the figure, a single-layer structure, a stacked-layer structure of two layers, or a stacked-layer structure of four or more layers may be employed.

For example, a material with high dielectric strength, such as silicon oxynitride, is preferably used for the insulators 130 and 134, and a high dielectric constant (high-k) material, such as aluminum oxide, is preferably used for the insulator 132. In the capacitor 100 having the structure, a sufficient capacitance can be provided because of the high dielectric constant (high-k) insulator, and the dielectric strength can be increased and the electrostatic breakdown of the capacitor 100 can be prevented because of the insulator with high dielectric strength.

The conductor 116 is provided over the conductor 112 with the insulators 130, 132, and 134 positioned therebetween. Note that the conductor 116 can be formed using a conductive material such as a metal material, an alloy material, or a metal oxide material. It is preferable to use a high-melting-point material which has both heat resistance and conductivity, such as tungsten or molybdenum, and it is particularly preferable to use tungsten. In the case where the conductor 116 is formed concurrently with another component such as a conductor, Cu (copper), Al (aluminum), or the like which is a low-resistance metal material may be used.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11, when the conductor 112, which functions as one electrode, includes a projecting structure body like the conductor 112 b, the capacitance of the capacitor per projected area can be increased. Thus, the semiconductor device can be reduced in area, highly integrated, and miniaturized.

An insulator 150 is stacked over the conductor 116 and the insulator 134. The insulators 110 and 150 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the insulator 320. The insulator 110 that is provided under the capacitor 100 and the insulator 150 that covers the capacitor 100 may function as planarization films which cover the roughness below the insulators 110 and 150.

The above is the description of the structure example. With the use of the structure, a change in electrical characteristics can be prevented and reliability can be improved in a semiconductor device including a transistor including an oxide semiconductor. A transistor including an oxide semiconductor with high on-state current can be provided. A transistor including an oxide semiconductor with low off-state current can be provided. A semiconductor device with low power consumption can be provided.

Modification Example 1

As a modification example of this embodiment, the conductor 244 may be formed as illustrated in FIG. 12. That is, a plug may be embedded in the insulator 282, and a stacked-layer structure including a conductor serving as a wiring and the barrier layer 245 may be provided over the plug. In that case, a conductor which functions as a wiring and is included in the conductor forming the conductor 244 is preferably a conductor with high oxidation resistance.

Modification Example 2

As another modification example of this embodiment, the conductor 112 is not necessarily provided in the capacitor 100.

In the structure illustrated in FIG. 13, the conductor 244 is formed after formation of the insulators 280, 282, 284, and 110. Therefore, the conductor 124 can be formed concurrently with the conductor 112 serving as one electrode of the capacitor 100. This enables production with a smaller number of processes, which can reduce production cost and increase the productivity.

The conductor 116 is provided over the conductor 112 with the insulators 130, 132, and 134 positioned therebetween. Note that the conductor 116 can be formed using a conductive material such as a metal material, an alloy material, or a metal oxide material. It is preferable to use a high-melting-point material which has both heat resistance and conductivity, such as tungsten or molybdenum, and it is particularly preferable to use tungsten. In the case where the conductor 112 is formed concurrently with another component such as a conductor, Cu (copper), Al (aluminum), or the like which is a low-resistance metal material may be used.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, the conductor 116 is provided to cover the top and side surfaces of the conductor 112 with the insulators 130, 132, and 134 positioned therebetween. That is, a capacitance is formed also on the side surface of the conductor 112, so that a capacitance of a capacitor per projected area can be increased. Thus, the semiconductor device can be reduced in area, highly integrated, and miniaturized.

Note that in this structure, when the conductor 112 is formed, it is preferable to remove the top surface of the insulator 110 so that the depth of the removed part is greater than the total thickness of the insulators 130, 132, and 134. For example, by performing over-etching treatment, part of the insulator 110 can be removed concurrently. Furthermore, by forming the conductor 112 or the like by over-etching treatment, etching can be performed without leaving an etching residue.

By changing the kind of etching gas in the etching treatment, part of the insulator 110 can be removed efficiently.

After the conductor 112 and the conductor 124 are formed, part of the insulator 110 may be removed using the conductor 112 as a hard mask, for example.

After the conductor 112 is formed, a surface of the conductor 112 may be subjected to cleaning treatment. The cleaning treatment can remove an etching residue or the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, a structure where the insulators 213 and 283 are not provided may be employed. Also in this structure, the transistor 200 and the insulator 280 including the oxygen-excess region can be positioned between a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 212 and 214 and a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 282 and 284. The insulators 212, 214, 282, and 284 each have a barrier property that prevents diffusion of oxygen or and impurities such as hydrogen and water.

Thus, oxygen released from the insulator 280 and the transistor 200 can be prevented from diffusing into the capacitor 100 or the layer where the transistor 300 is formed. Furthermore, impurities such as hydrogen and water can be prevented from diffusing from a layer over the insulator 282 and a layer under the insulator 214 into the transistor 200.

That is, oxygen can be efficiently supplied from the oxygen-excess region of the insulator 280 to the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200, so that oxygen vacancies can be reduced. Moreover, oxygen vacancies can be prevented from being formed by impurities in the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200. Thus, the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are each a cross-sectional view in the vicinity of a scribe line in this modification example.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 16A, in the vicinity of a region overlapping with the scribe line (shown by the dashed-dotted line in FIG. 16A), the insulator 214 and the insulator 282 are in contact with each other and a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 212, 214, 282, and 284 is obtained. At this time, in the case where the insulator 214 and the insulator 282 are formed using the same material and the same method, adhesion therebetween in the stacked-layer structure is increased.

In the structure, the insulators 216, 220, 222, 224, and 280 can be enclosed with the insulators 212, 214, 282, and 284. The insulators 212, 214, 282, and 284 each have a function of preventing diffusion of oxygen, hydrogen, and water, and therefore, entry and diffusion of hydrogen or water from the side surfaces of the insulators 216, 220, 222, 224, and 280 into the transistor 200 can be prevented even when the semiconductor device described in this embodiment is subjected to scribing.

Furthermore, in the structure, excess oxygen in the insulator 280 can be prevented from diffusing into the outside of the insulator 282 and the insulator 214. Accordingly, excess oxygen in the insulator 280 is efficiently supplied to the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200. The oxygen can reduce oxygen vacancies in the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200. Thus, the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

As another example, as shown in FIG. 16B, an opening is provided in the insulators 214, 216, 220, 222, 224, and 280 in the vicinity of a region overlapping with the scribe line (shown by the dashed-dotted line in FIG. 16B). The insulator 282 is provided to cover the side surfaces of the insulators 214, 216, 220, 222, 224, and 280. In addition, an opening is formed in the insulators 212 and 282, and the insulator 284 is provided to cover side surfaces of the insulators 212 and 282 and an exposed top surface of the insulator 210.

That is, in the opening, the insulator 214 and the insulator 282 are in contact with each other. Furthermore, on the side outer than that, the insulator 212 and the insulator 282 are in contact with each other. At this time, in the case where the insulator 214 and the insulator 282 are formed using the same material and the same method, adhesion therebetween in the stacked-layer structure is increased.

Furthermore, in the case where the insulator 212 and the insulator 284 are formed using the same material and the same method, adhesion therebetween in the stacked-layer structure is increased.

In such a structure, the transistor 200 and the insulator 280 can be enclosed tightly. Thus, the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

Modification Example 3

FIG. 14 illustrates another modification example of this embodiment. FIG. 14 is different from FIG. 13 in the structures of the transistors 300 and 200.

In the transistor 300 illustrated in FIG. 14, the semiconductor region 312 (part of the substrate 311) in which the channel is formed includes a projection. Furthermore, the conductor 316 is provided to cover top and side surfaces of the semiconductor region 312 with the insulator 314 positioned therebetween. Note that the conductor 316 may be formed using a material for adjusting the work function. The transistor 300 having such a structure is also referred to as a FIN transistor because the projection of the semiconductor substrate is utilized. An insulator serving as a mask for forming the projection may be provided in contact with a top surface of the projection. Although the case where the projection is formed by processing part of the semiconductor substrate is described here, a semiconductor film having a projecting shape may be formed by processing an SOI substrate.

The structure of the transistor 200 illustrated in FIG. 14 is similar to that described with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4C. The oxide 230 c, the insulator 250, and the conductor 260 are formed in an opening formed in the insulator 280. Furthermore, one end portion of each of the conductors 240 a and 240 b is aligned with an end portion of the opening formed in the insulator 280. Furthermore, three end portions of each of the conductors 240 a and 240 b are aligned with part of an end portion of the oxide 230. Therefore, the conductors 240 a and 240 b can be formed concurrently with the oxide 230 or the opening in the insulator 280. Accordingly, the number of masks and steps can be reduced, and yield and productivity can be improved.

Since the transistor 200 illustrated in FIG. 14 has a structure in which the conductors 240 a, 240 b, and 260 hardly overlap with each other, the parasitic capacitance added to the conductor 260 can be reduced. Thus, the transistor 200 with a high operation frequency can be provided.

Modification Example 4

FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate another modification example of this embodiment. FIGS. 17A and 17B are cross-sectional views of the transistor 200 in the channel length direction and in the channel width direction, respectively, with the dashed dotted line A1-A2 serving as an axis.

As illustrated in FIGS. 17A and 17B, the transistor 200 and the insulator 280 including the oxygen-excess region may be enclosed with a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 212 and 214 and a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 282 and 284. At that time, in a region between the transistor 200 and a through electrode which connects the transistor 300 and the capacitor 100, the stacked-layer structure of the insulators 212 and 214 is preferably in contact with the stacked-layer structure of the insulators 282 and 284.

Thus, oxygen released from the insulator 280 and the transistor 200 can be prevented from diffusing into the capacitor 100 or the layer where the transistor 300 is formed. Furthermore, impurities such as hydrogen and water can be prevented from diffusing from a layer over the insulator 282 and a layer under the insulator 214 into the transistor 200.

That is, oxygen can be efficiently supplied from the oxygen-excess region of the insulator 280 to the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200, so that oxygen vacancies can be reduced. Moreover, oxygen vacancies can be prevented from being formed by impurities in the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200. Thus, the oxide where a channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

Modification Example 5

FIG. 18 illustrates another modification example of this embodiment. FIG. 18 is different from FIG. 13 in the structure of the capacitor.

A capacitor 105 may be formed as illustrated in FIG. 18. Part of a wiring connected to the transistor 300 also functions as part of the capacitor 105. This can increase the capacitance of the capacitor per projected area can be increased. Thus, the semiconductor device can be reduced in area, highly integrated, and miniaturized. A structure where the insulators 212 and 214 and the insulators 282 and 284 are stacked is preferably provided between the capacitor 105 and the transistor 200.

Thus, oxygen can be efficiently supplied from the oxygen-excess region of the insulator 280 to the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200, so that oxygen vacancies can be reduced. Moreover, oxygen vacancies can be prevented from being formed by impurities in the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200. Thus, the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

Modification Example 6

FIGS. 19A and 19B illustrate another modification example of this embodiment. FIG. 19A is a circuit diagram which shows part of a row in which the semiconductor devices each of which is illustrated in FIG. 10A are arranged in a matrix. FIG. 19B is a cross-sectional view of the semiconductor devices which corresponds to FIG. 19A.

In FIGS. 19A and 19B, the semiconductor device which includes the transistor 300, the transistor 200, and the capacitor 100; the semiconductor device which includes a transistor 301, a transistor 201, and a capacitor 101; and the semiconductor device which includes a transistor 302, a transistor 202, and a capacitor 102 are arranged in the same row.

As illustrated in FIG. 19B, a plurality of transistors (the transistors 200 and 201 in the figure) and the insulator 280 including an oxygen-excess region may be enclosed with a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 212 and 214 and a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 282 and 284. At that time, a structure in which the insulators 212 and 214 and the insulators 282 and 284 are stacked is preferably formed between the transistor 200, 201, or 202 and a through electrode which connects the transistor 300, 301, or 302 and the capacitor 100, 101, or 102.

Thus, oxygen released from the insulator 280 and the transistor 200 can be prevented from diffusing the capacitor 100 or the layer where the transistor 300 is formed. Furthermore, impurities such as hydrogen and water can be prevented from diffusing from a layer over the insulator 282 and a layer under the insulator 214 into the transistor 200.

That is, oxygen can be efficiently supplied from the oxygen-excess region of the insulator 280 to the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200, so that oxygen vacancies can be reduced. Moreover, oxygen vacancies can be prevented from being formed by impurities in the oxide where a channel is formed in the transistor 200. Thus, the oxide where a channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

Modification Example 7

FIG. 20 illustrates another modification example of this embodiment. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of the semiconductor device illustrated in FIGS. 19A and 19B in which the transistor 201 and the transistor 202 are integrated.

As illustrated in FIG. 20, the conductor 112 serving as one electrode of the capacitor 101 may double as the conductor 240 a serving as the source or the drain of the transistor 201. At that time, the oxide 230 a of the transistor 201 and a region of the insulator 250 which extends over the conductor 240 a and functions as the gate insulator of the transistor 201 function as insulators of the capacitor 101. Therefore, the conductor 116 serving as the other electrode of the capacitor 101 may be stacked over the conductor 240 a with the insulator 250 and the oxide 230 a positioned therebetween. This structure can lead to reduction in area, increase in the integration degree, and miniaturization of the semiconductor device.

The transistor 201 and the transistor 202 may overlap with each other. This structure can lead to reduction in area, increase in the integration degree, and miniaturization of the semiconductor device.

A plurality of transistors (the transistors 201 and 202 in the figure) and the insulator 280 including an oxygen-excess region may be enclosed with a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 212 and 214 and a stacked-layer structure of the insulators 282 and 284. At that time, a structure in which the insulators 212 and 214 and the insulators 282 and 284 are stacked is preferably formed between the transistor 200, 201, or 202 and a through electrode which connects the transistor 300, 301, or 302 and the capacitor 100, 101, or 102.

Thus, oxygen released from the insulator 280 and the transistor 200 can be prevented from diffusing into the insulator 284 or the layer where the transistors 301 and 302 are formed. Furthermore, impurities such as hydrogen and water can be prevented from diffusing from a layer over the insulator 282 and a layer under the insulator 214 into the transistor 201 or 202.

That is, oxygen can be efficiently supplied from the oxygen-excess region of the insulator 280 to the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 201 or 202, so that oxygen vacancies can be reduced. Moreover, oxygen vacancies can be prevented from being formed by impurities in the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 201 or 202. Thus, the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 201 or 202 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 201 or 202 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment, an example of a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device described in the above structure example is described below with reference to FIG. 11, FIGS. 21A to 21D, FIGS. 22A to 22C, FIGS. 23A and 23B, FIGS. 24A and 24B, FIGS. 25A and 25B, FIG. 26, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, and FIG. 29.

<Method for Manufacturing Semiconductor Device>

First, the substrate 311 is prepared. A semiconductor substrate is used as the substrate 311. For example, a single crystal silicon substrate (including a p-type semiconductor substrate or an n-type semiconductor substrate), a compound semiconductor substrate containing silicon carbide or gallium nitride, or the like can be used. An SOI substrate may alternatively be used as the substrate 311. The case where single crystal silicon is used for the substrate 311 is described below.

Next, an element isolation layer is formed in the substrate 311. The element isolation layer may be formed by a local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) method, a shallow trench isolation (STI) method, or others.

In the case where a p-channel transistor and an n-channel transistor are formed on the same substrate, an n-well or a p-well may be formed in part of the substrate 311. For example, a p-well may be formed by adding an impurity element that imparts p-type conductivity, such as boron, to the n-type substrate 311, and an n-channel transistor and a p-channel transistor may be formed on the same substrate.

Then, an insulator to be the insulator 314 is formed over the substrate 311. For example, after surface nitriding treatment, oxidizing treatment may be performed to oxidize the interface between silicon and silicon nitride, whereby a silicon oxynitride film may be formed. For example, a silicon oxynitride film can be obtained by performing oxygen radical oxidation after a thermal silicon nitride film is formed on the surface at 700° C. in an NH₃ atmosphere.

The insulator may be formed by a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method (including a thermal CVD method, a metal organic CVD (MOCVD) method, a plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) method, and the like), a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method, a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method, or the like.

Then, a conductive film to be the conductor 316 is formed. It is preferable that the conductive film be formed using a metal selected from tantalum, tungsten, titanium, molybdenum, chromium, niobium, and the like, or an alloy material or a compound material including any of the metals as its main component. Alternatively, polycrystalline silicon to which an impurity such as phosphorus is added can be used. Further alternatively, a stacked-layer structure of a film of metal nitride and a film of any of the above metals may be used. As a metal nitride, tungsten nitride, molybdenum nitride, or titanium nitride can be used. When the metal nitride film is provided, adhesiveness of the metal film can be increased; thus, separation can be prevented. Note that the threshold voltage of the transistor 300 can be adjusted by determining a work function of the conductor 316, and therefore, a material of the conductive film is selected as appropriate in accordance with the characteristics that the transistor 300 needs to have.

The conductive film can be formed by a sputtering method, an evaporation method, a CVD method (including a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, a PECVD method, and the like), or the like. It is preferable to use a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, or an ALD method in order to reduce plasma damage.

Next, a resist mask is formed over the conductive film by a photolithography process or the like and an unnecessary portion of the conductive film is removed. After that, the resist mask is removed, whereby the conductor 316 is formed.

After the conductor 316 is formed, a sidewall covering a side surface of the conductor 316 may be formed. The sidewall can be formed in such a manner that an insulator thicker than the conductor 316 is formed and subjected to anisotropic etching so that only a portion of the insulator on the side surface of the conductor 316 remains.

The insulator to be the insulator 314 is etched concurrently with the formation of the sidewall, whereby the insulator 314 is formed under the conductor 316 and the sidewall. The insulator 314 may be formed by etching the insulator with the conductor 316 or a resist mask for processing the conductor 316 used as an etching mask after the conductor 316 is formed. In this case, the insulator 314 is formed under the conductor 316. Alternatively, the insulator can be used as the insulator 314 without being processed by etching.

Then, an element that imparts n-type conductivity, such as phosphorus, or an element that imparts p-type conductivity, such as boron, is added to a region of the substrate 311 where the conductor 316 (and the sidewall) is not provided.

Subsequently, the insulator 320 is formed, and then, heat treatment is performed to activate the aforementioned element that imparts conductivity.

The insulator 320 can be formed to have a single-layer structure or a stacked-layer structure using, for example, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, aluminum nitride oxide, aluminum nitride, or the like. The insulator 320 is preferably formed using silicon nitride containing oxygen and hydrogen (SiNOH) because the amount of hydrogen released by heating can be increased. Alternatively, the insulator 320 can also be formed using silicon oxide with high step coverage that is formed by reacting tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), silane, or the like with oxygen, nitrous oxide, or the like.

The insulator 320 can be formed by, for example, a sputtering method, a CVD method (including a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, a PECVD method, and the like), an MBE method, an ALD method, a PLD method, or the like. In particular, it is preferable that the insulator be formed by a CVD method, further preferably a plasma CVD method because coverage can be further improved. It is preferable to use a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, or an ALD method in order to reduce plasma damage.

The heat treatment can be performed at a temperature higher than or equal to 400° C. and lower than the strain point of the substrate in an inert gas atmosphere such as a rare gas atmosphere or a nitrogen gas atmosphere or in a reduced-pressure atmosphere.

At this stage, the transistor 300 is formed. Note that in the case of using the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 10B, the transistor 300 may be omitted. In that case, there is no particular limitation on the substrate. For example, a glass substrate of barium borosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, or the like, a ceramic substrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate can be used. Alternatively, a single crystal semiconductor substrate or a polycrystalline semiconductor substrate of silicon, silicon carbide, or the like; a compound semiconductor substrate of silicon germanium, gallium arsenide, indium arsenide, or indium gallium arsenide; a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate; a germanium-on-insulator (GOI) substrate; or the like can be used. Further alternatively, any of these substrates provided with a semiconductor element may be used.

Alternatively, a flexible substrate may be used as the substrate. A transistor may be directly formed over a flexible substrate; or alternatively, a transistor may be formed over a manufacturing substrate and then separated from the substrate and transferred to a flexible substrate. In order that the transistor be separated from the manufacturing substrate to be transferred to the flexible substrate, it is preferable to provide a separation layer between the manufacturing substrate and the transistor including an oxide semiconductor.

Then, the insulator 322 is formed over the insulator 320. The insulator 322 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the insulator 320. In addition, the top surface of the insulator 322 is planarized by a CMP method or the like (FIG. 21A).

Then, openings that reach the low-resistance region 318 a, the low-resistance region 318 b, the conductor 316, and the like are formed in the insulator 320 and the insulator 322 by a lithography process or the like (FIG. 21B). After that, a conductive film is formed to fill the openings (see FIG. 21C). The conductive film can be formed by a sputtering method, a CVD method (including a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, a PECVD method, and the like), an MBE method, an ALD method, a PLD method, or others.

Then, planarization treatment is performed on the conductive film to expose a top surface of the insulator 322, whereby a conductor 328 a, a conductor 328 b, a conductor 328 c, and the like are formed (FIG. 21D). Note that arrows in FIG. 21D show CMP treatment. Furthermore, in the specification and the drawings, the conductor 328 a, the conductor 328 b, and the conductor 328 c each function as a plug or a wiring and are collectively referred to as the conductor 328 in some cases. Note that in this specification, conductors each functioning as a plug or a wiring are treated in a similar manner.

Then, a conductor 330 a, a conductor 330 b, and a conductor 330 c are formed over the insulator 320 by a damascene process or the like (FIG. 22A).

The insulator 324 and the insulator 326 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the insulator 320.

The insulator 324 is preferably formed using, for example, a film having a barrier property that prevents hydrogen or impurities from diffusing from the substrate 311, the transistor 300, or the like into a region where the transistor 200 is formed. As an example of the film having a barrier property against hydrogen, silicon nitride formed by a CVD method can be given.

The insulator 326 is preferably an insulator having a low dielectric constant (low-k material). For example, silicon oxide formed by a CVD method can be used. In the case where a material with a low dielectric constant is used as an interlayer film, the parasitic capacitance between wirings can be reduced.

A conductive film to be the conductor 330 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the conductor 328.

Note that in the case where the conductor 330 has a stacked-layer structure, it is preferable that a conductor which is in contact with the insulator 324 and has a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, or water (e.g., tantalum nitride) and a conductor which has high conductivity (e.g., tungsten or copper) be stacked in the structure. For example, tantalum nitride having a barrier property can be formed by an ALD method using a deposition gas that does not contain chlorine at a substrate temperature of 250° C. A dense conductor including reduced defects such as cracks or pinholes or having a uniform thickness can be formed by an ALD method. In the case where the insulator 324 having a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, or water is in contact with the conductor having a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, or water, the diffusion of oxygen, hydrogen, or water can be prevented more reliably.

Then, the insulator 350, the insulator 352, the insulator 354, a conductor 356 a, a conductor 356 b, and a conductor 356 c are formed (FIG. 22B). The insulator 352 and the insulator 354 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the insulator 320. The conductor 356 can be formed using a material similar to that used for forming the conductor 328 by a dual damascene process or the like.

Note that in the case where the conductor 356 has a stacked-layer structure, it is preferable that a conductor which is contact with the insulator 350 and has a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, or water (e.g., tantalum nitride) and a conductor with high conductivity (e.g., tungsten or copper) be stacked in the structure. In particular, when a material which is likely to diffuse, such as copper, is used in the conductor 356, it is preferable that a conductor having a barrier property against copper or the like be stacked together with the material. In addition, it is preferable that the insulator 354 also have a barrier property against copper or the like. In the case where the insulator 354 is in contact with the conductor having a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, or water, the diffusion of oxygen, hydrogen, or water can be prevented more reliably.

Next, the insulator 358 having a barrier property against hydrogen or oxygen is formed. Like the insulator 354, the insulator 358 preferably has a barrier property against the conductor used for the conductor 356.

The insulators 210, 212, 213, and 214 are formed over the insulator 358. The insulators 210, 212, and 214 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the insulators 350, 352, and 354.

For example, the insulator 210 is preferably an insulator with a low dielectric constant (low-k material). For example, silicon oxide formed by a CVD method can be used. In the case where a material with a low dielectric constant is used as an interlayer film, the parasitic capacitance between wirings can be reduced.

The insulator 212 is preferably formed using, for example, a film having a barrier property that prevents hydrogen or impurities from diffusing from the substrate 311, the transistor 300, or the like into a region where the transistor 200 is formed. As an example of the film having a barrier property against hydrogen, silicon nitride formed by a CVD method can be given.

The insulator 213 can be aluminum oxide formed by an ALD method as an example of a film having a barrier property against hydrogen, for example. A dense insulator including reduced defects such as cracks or pinholes or having a uniform thickness can be formed by an ALD method.

The insulator 214 can be aluminum oxide formed by a sputtering method as an example of a film having a barrier property against hydrogen, for example.

Then, the insulator 216 is formed over the insulator 214. The insulator 216 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the insulator 210 (FIG. 22C).

Then, depressions are formed in regions overlapping with the conductors 356 a, 356 b, and 356 c, and the like in the stacked-layer structure of the insulators 212, 213, 214, and 216 (FIG. 23A). Note that each of the depressions is preferably deep enough to form an opening portion in at least the insulator formed using a hardly-etched material. Here, the hardly-etched material denotes a material that is hardly etched, e.g., metal oxide. Typical examples of the metal oxide film formed of a hardly-etched material include a film containing any of aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, and hafnium oxide; a silicate film containing any of these materials (HfSi_(x)O_(y), ZrSi_(x)O_(y), or the like), and a film of a composite oxide containing two or more of these materials (Hfi_(1-x)Al_(x)O_(y), Zr_(1-x)Al_(x)O_(y), or the like).

Then, an opening is formed in a region where the conductor 205 is to be formed in the stacked-layer structure of the insulators 214 and 216, and bottom surfaces of the depressions formed in the stacked-layer structure of the insulators 212, 213, 214, and 216 are removed, whereby openings reaching the conductors 356 a, 356 b, and 356 c are formed (FIG. 23B). At this time, by increasing the widths of the upper parts of the depressions, e.g., the openings formed in the insulator 216, an adequate design margin for plugs or wirings to be formed in a later step can be provided.

After that, a conductive film is formed to fill the openings. The conductive film can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the conductor 328. Then, planarization treatment is performed on the conductive film to expose a top surface of the insulator 216, whereby a conductor 218 a, a conductor 218 b, a conductor 218 c, and the conductor 205 are formed (FIG. 24A).

Then, the transistor 200 is formed. The manufacturing method described in the above embodiment can be used as a method for manufacturing the transistor 200.

Next, the insulator 280 is formed over the transistor 200. The insulator 280 is preferably formed using an oxide containing oxygen in excess of that in the stoichiometric composition. Note that the insulator 280 is an insulator containing oxygen, such as a silicon oxide film or a silicon oxynitride film. The insulator containing excess oxygen can be formed using a silicon oxide film or a silicon oxynitride film containing a large amount of oxygen as a result of film formation by a CVD method or a sputtering method under the conditions which are set as appropriate. After an insulator to be the insulator 280 is formed, planarization treatment using a CMP method or the like may be performed to improve the planarity of a top surface of the insulator (FIG. 24B).

Here, an oxygen-excess region may be formed in the insulator 280. To form an oxygen-excess region, for example, oxygen may be added by an ion implantation method, an ion doping method, or plasma treatment.

Next, openings which reach the conductors 218 a, 218 b, and 218 c, the transistor 200, and the like are formed in the insulators 220, 222, 224, and 280 (FIG. 25A).

After that, a conductive film 244A and a conductive film 244B are formed to fill the openings (FIG. 25B). Then, planarization treatment is performed on the conductive film to remove the upper surface of the conductive film 244B; as a result, the thickness of the conductive film 244B is reduced so that the conductive film 244B can be processed by a lithography process (FIG. 26; the arrows in this figure denotes CMP process). Subsequently, unnecessary portions of the conductive films 244A and 244B are removed by etching using a resist mask to form a conductor 244 a, a conductor 244 b, a conductor 244 c, a conductor 244 d, and a conductor 244 e.

Then, a barrier film 245A is formed over the insulator 280 and the conductor 244 (FIG. 27). Aluminum oxide formed by an ALD method can be used as the barrier film. A dense insulator including reduced defects such as cracks or pinholes or having a uniform thickness can be formed by an ALD method. The barrier layer 245 can prevent diffusion of impurities contained the conductor 244 and diffusion of part of the conductor 244. The use of aluminum oxide can prevent entry of impurities such as hydrogen and moisture into the transistor 200 in and after a manufacturing process of the transistor.

Next, an unnecessary portion of the barrier film 245A is removed by etching using a resist mask to form a barrier layer 245 a, a barrier layer 245 b, a barrier layer 245 c, a barrier layer 245 d, and a barrier layer 245 e.

Here, an oxygen-excess region is formed in the insulator 280. To form an oxygen-excess region, for example, oxygen may be added by an ion implantation method, an ion doping method, or plasma treatment.

For example, oxygen plasma treatment is performed (arrows in FIG. 28 denote the plasma treatment). In typical oxygen plasma treatment, the surface of an oxide semiconductor is processed by radicals generated from an oxygen gas by glow discharge plasma. However, as a gas from which plasma is generated, a mixed gas of an oxygen gas and a rare gas may be used, as well as oxygen. For example, oxygen plasma treatment may be performed at a temperature higher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., preferably higher than or equal to 300° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., in an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas or under reduced pressure.

The oxygen plasma treatment dehydrates or dehydrogenates the insulator 280 and the oxide 230 of the transistor 200 and introduces excess oxygen to the insulator 280; as a result, an oxygen-excess region can be formed. In addition, oxygen vacancies are generated in the dehydrated or dehydrogenated oxide 230 and the resistance of the oxide 230 is reduced. Meanwhile, the excess oxygen in the insulator 280 compensates oxygen vacancies of the oxide 230. Therefore, owing to the oxygen plasma treatment, hydrogen and water that serve as impurities can be removed from the insulator 280 while an oxygen-excess region is formed in the insulator 280. In addition, hydrogen and water that serve as impurities can be removed from the oxide 230 while oxygen vacancies in the oxide 230 are compensated. Thus, the electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be improved and variation in the electrical characteristics thereof can be reduced.

The barrier layer 245 can prevent oxidation of the conductor 244 due to oxygen plasma treatment. Note that when the conductor 244 is formed using a conductor with high oxidation resistance, the barrier layer 245 is not necessarily included.

Next, the insulator 282 is formed over the insulator 280 and the barrier layer 245. A method of stacking oxides over the insulator 280 using a sputtering apparatus is given as an example of the oxygen introduction treatment. For example, by forming the insulator 282 in an oxygen gas atmosphere using a sputtering apparatus, oxygen can be introduced into the insulator 280 while the insulator 282 is formed.

During deposition by a sputtering method, ions and sputtered particles exist between a target and the substrate. For example, a potential E₀ is supplied to the target, to which a power source is connected. A potential E₁ such as a ground potential is supplied to the substrate. Note that the substrate may be electrically floating. In addition, there is a region at a potential E₂ between the target and the substrate. The potential relationship is E₂>E₁>E₀.

The ions in plasma are accelerated by a potential difference (E₂−E₀) and collide with the target; accordingly, the sputtered particles are ejected from the target. These sputtered particles attach to a deposition surface, thereby forming a film. Some ions recoil by the target and might be taken into the insulator 280 below the formed film as recoil ions through the formed film. The ions in the plasma are accelerated by a potential difference (E₂−□E₁) and collide with the deposition surface. Some ions reach the inside of the insulator 110. The ions are taken into the insulator 280; accordingly, a region into which the ions are taken is formed in the insulator 280. That is, an oxygen-excess region is formed in the insulator 280 in the case where the ions include oxygen.

Oxygen (at least including any of oxygen radicals, oxygen atoms, and oxygen ions) may be introduced into the insulator 280 through the insulator 282, so that a region containing excess oxygen may be formed. Oxygen can be introduced by an ion implantation method, an ion doping method, a plasma immersion ion implantation method, plasma treatment, or the like. By performing the oxygen introduction treatment through the insulator 282, the oxygen-excess region can be formed in a state where the insulator 280 is protected.

Next, heat treatment may be performed. The heat treatment may be performed at a temperature higher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 650° C., preferably higher than or equal to 300° C. and lower than or equal to 500° C., further preferably higher than or equal to 350° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., in an inert gas atmosphere, an atmosphere containing an oxidizing gas at 10 ppm or more, or a reduced pressure state. Alternatively, the heat treatment may be performed in such a manner that heat treatment is performed in an inert gas atmosphere, and then another heat treatment is performed in an atmosphere containing an oxidization gas at 10 ppm or more, in order to compensate released oxygen. For the heat treatment, lamp heating can be performed with use of an RTA apparatus.

By the heat treatment, excess oxygen introduced into the insulator 280 is diffused into the insulator 280. Here, the insulator 280 is enclosed with the insulator 222 and the insulator 282 having a barrier property against oxygen. Therefore, excess oxygen introduced into the insulator 280 is prevented from being released to the outside and is supplied to the oxide 230 efficiently.

Moreover, by the heat treatment, hydrogen in the insulator 280 is moved to the insulator 282. Hydrogen moved to the insulator 282 reacts with oxygen in the insulator 282, whereby water is produced in some cases. The formed water is released upward from the insulator 282. Thus, hydrogen and water as impurities in the insulator 280 can be reduced. Note that in the case where the insulator 282 is formed using aluminum oxide, the insulator 282 may function as a catalyst.

Oxygen supplied to the oxide 230 compensates oxygen vacancies in the oxide 230. Thus, the oxide where the channel is formed in the transistor 200 can be an oxide semiconductor with a low density of defect states and stable characteristics. That is, a change in electrical characteristics of the transistor 200 can be prevented and the reliability can be improved.

For the formation of the region containing excess oxygen by introduction of oxygen to the deposited insulator 280, oxygen plasma treatment, ion implantation treatment, heat treatment, or combination thereof may be used.

Then, the insulators 283 and 284 are formed. The insulator 283 can be aluminum oxide formed by an ALD method as an example of a film having a barrier property against hydrogen, for example. A dense insulator including reduced defects such as cracks or pinholes or having a uniform thickness can be formed by an ALD method. The insulator 284 can be aluminum oxide formed by a sputtering method as an example of a film having a barrier property against hydrogen, for example.

Next, the capacitor 100 is formed. First, the insulator 110 is formed over the insulator 284. The insulator 110 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the insulator 210. In addition, the top surface of the insulator 322 is planarized by a CMP method or the like (FIG. 29).

Next, openings reaching the conductor 244 c and 244 d and the like are formed in the insulators 282, 283, 284, and 110.

After that, a conductive film is formed to fill the openings. Then, the conductive film is subjected to planarization treatment, whereby the top surface of the insulator 110 is exposed and the conductor 124 is formed. Note that the conductive film can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the conductor 328.

Note that in the case where the conductor 124 has a stacked-layer structure, a conductor having a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, or water, such as tantalum nitride, is preferably formed by an ALD method as the conductor in contact with the insulator 284. A dense conductor including reduced defects such as cracks or pinholes or having a uniform thickness can be formed by an ALD method. In the case where the insulators 282, 283, and 284 having a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, or water are in contact with the conductor 124 having a barrier property against oxygen, hydrogen, or water, the diffusion of oxygen, hydrogen, or water can be prevented more reliably.

Then, the conductor 112 (the conductors 112 a and 112 b) is formed over the insulator 110. Note that the conductor 112 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the conductor 328.

Then, the insulators 130, 132, and 134 covering the top and side surfaces of the conductor 112 are formed. The insulators 130, 132, and 134 can be each formed using, for example, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, aluminum nitride oxide, aluminum nitride, hafnium oxide, hafnium oxynitride, hafnium nitride oxide, hafnium nitride, or the like.

Then, the conductor 116 is formed over the insulator 134. Note that the conductor 116 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the conductor 112.

Next, the insulator 150 covering the capacitor 100 is formed. An insulator to be the insulator 150 can be formed using a material and a method similar to those used for forming the insulator 320 and the like.

Through the above steps, the semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention can be manufactured (FIG. 11).

In the semiconductor device including the transistor using an oxide semiconductor and manufactured through the above steps, a change in electrical characteristics can be prevented and the reliability can be improved. The transistor including an oxide semiconductor with high on-state current can be provided. The transistor including an oxide semiconductor with low off-state current can be provided. The semiconductor device with low power consumption can be provided.

At least part of this embodiment can be implemented in combination with any of the other embodiments described in this specification as appropriate.

Embodiment 4

In this embodiment, an oxide semiconductor included in the transistor described in the above embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 33A to 33E, FIGS. 34A to 34E, FIGS. 35A to 35D, FIGS. 36A and 36B, FIG. 37, and FIG. 38.

<Structure of Oxide Semiconductor>

The structure of an oxide semiconductor will be described below.

An oxide semiconductor is classified into a single crystal oxide semiconductor and a non-single-crystal oxide semiconductor. Examples of a non-single-crystal oxide semiconductor include a c-axis aligned crystalline oxide semiconductor (CAAC-OS), a polycrystalline oxide semiconductor, a nanocrystalline oxide semiconductor (nc-OS), an amorphous-like oxide semiconductor (a-like OS), and an amorphous oxide semiconductor.

From another perspective, an oxide semiconductor is classified into an amorphous oxide semiconductor and a crystalline oxide semiconductor. Examples of a crystalline oxide semiconductor include a single crystal oxide semiconductor, a CAAC-OS, a polycrystalline oxide semiconductor, and an nc-OS.

An amorphous structure is generally thought to be isotropic and have no non-uniform structure, to be metastable and not have fixed positions of atoms, to have a flexible bond angle, and to have a short-range order but have no long-range order, for example.

This means that a stable oxide semiconductor cannot be regarded as a completely amorphous oxide semiconductor. Moreover, an oxide semiconductor that is not isotropic (e.g., an oxide semiconductor that has a periodic structure in a microscopic region) cannot be regarded as a completely amorphous oxide semiconductor. In contrast, an a-like OS, which is not isotropic, has an unstable structure that contains a void. Because of its instability, an a-like OS has physical properties similar to those of an amorphous oxide semiconductor.

<CAAC-OS>

First, a CAAC-OS is described.

A CAAC-OS is one of oxide semiconductors having a plurality of c-axis aligned crystal parts (also referred to as pellets).

Analysis of a CAAC-OS by X-ray diffraction (XRD) is described. For example, when the structure of a CAAC-OS including an InGaZnO₄ crystal that is classified into the space group R-3m is analyzed by an out-of-plane method, a peak appears at a diffraction angle (2θ) of around 31° as shown in FIG. 33A. This peak is derived from the (009) plane of the InGaZnO₄ crystal, which indicates that crystals in the CAAC-OS have c-axis alignment, and that the c-axes are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to a surface over which the CAAC-OS film is formed (also referred to as a formation surface) or the top surface of the CAAC-OS film. Note that a peak sometimes appears at a 2θ of around 36° in addition to the peak at a 2θ of around 31°. The peak at a 2θ of around 36° is derived from a crystal structure that is classified into the space group Fd-3m; thus, this peak is preferably not exhibited in a CAAC-OS.

On the other hand, in structural analysis of the CAAC-OS by an in-plane method in which an X-ray is incident on the CAAC-OS in a direction parallel to the formation surface, a peak appears at a 2θ of around 56°. This peak is attributed to the (110) plane of the InGaZnO₄ crystal. When analysis (φ scan) is performed with 2θ fixed at around 56° and with the sample rotated using a normal vector to the sample surface as an axis (φ axis), as shown in FIG. 33B, a peak is not clearly observed. In contrast, in the case where single crystal InGaZnO₄ is subjected to φ scan with 2θ fixed at around 56°, as shown in FIG. 33C, six peaks which are derived from crystal planes equivalent to the (110) plane are observed. Accordingly, the structural analysis using XRD shows that the directions of a-axes and b-axes are irregularly oriented in the CAAC-OS.

Next, a CAAC-OS analyzed by electron diffraction is described. For example, when an electron beam with a probe diameter of 300 nm is incident on a CAAC-OS including an InGaZnO₄ crystal in a direction parallel to the formation surface of the CAAC-OS, a diffraction pattern (also referred to as a selected-area electron diffraction pattern) shown in FIG. 33D can be obtained. In this diffraction pattern, spots derived from the (009) plane of an InGaZnO₄ crystal are included. Thus, the electron diffraction also indicates that pellets included in the CAAC-OS have c-axis alignment and that the c-axes are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the formation surface or the top surface of the CAAC-OS. Meanwhile, FIG. 33E shows a diffraction pattern obtained in such a manner that an electron beam with a probe diameter of 300 nm is incident on the same sample in a direction perpendicular to the sample surface. As shown in FIG. 33E, a ring-like diffraction pattern is observed. Thus, the electron diffraction using an electron beam with a probe diameter of 300 nm also indicates that the a-axes and b-axes of the pellets included in the CAAC-OS do not have regular orientation. The first ring in FIG. 33E is considered to be derived from the (010) plane, the (100) plane, and the like of the InGaZnO₄ crystal. The second ring in FIG. 33E is considered to be derived from the (110) plane and the like.

In a combined analysis image (also referred to as a high-resolution TEM image) of a bright-field image and a diffraction pattern of a CAAC-OS, which is obtained using a transmission electron microscope (TEM), a plurality of pellets can be observed. However, even in the high-resolution TEM image, a boundary between pellets, that is, a grain boundary is not clearly observed in some cases. Thus, in the CAAC-OS, a reduction in electron mobility due to the grain boundary is less likely to occur.

FIG. 34A shows a high-resolution TEM image of a cross section of the CAAC-OS which is observed from a direction substantially parallel to the sample surface. The high-resolution TEM image is obtained with a spherical aberration corrector function. The high-resolution TEM image obtained with a spherical aberration corrector function is particularly referred to as a Cs-corrected high-resolution TEM image. The Cs-corrected high-resolution TEM image can be observed with, for example, an atomic resolution analytical electron microscope JEM-ARM200F manufactured by JEOL Ltd.

FIG. 34A shows pellets in which metal atoms are arranged in a layered manner. FIG. 34A proves that the size of a pellet is greater than or equal to 1 nm or greater than or equal to 3 nm. Therefore, the pellet can also be referred to as a nanocrystal (nc). Furthermore, the CAAC-OS can also be referred to as an oxide semiconductor including c-axis aligned nanocrystals (CANC). A pellet reflects unevenness of a formation surface or a top surface of the CAAC-OS, and is parallel to the formation surface or the top surface of the CAAC-OS.

FIGS. 34B and 34C show Cs-corrected high-resolution TEM images of a plane of the CAAC-OS observed from a direction substantially perpendicular to the sample surface. FIGS. 34D and 34E are images obtained through image processing of FIGS. 34B and 34C. The method of image processing is as follows. The image in FIG. 34B is subjected to fast Fourier transform (FFT), so that an FFT image is obtained. Then, mask processing is performed such that a range of from 2.8 nm⁻¹ to 5.0 nm⁻¹ from the origin in the obtained FFT image remains. After the mask processing, the FFT image is processed by inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to obtain a processed image. The image obtained in this manner is called an FFT filtering image. The FFT filtering image is a Cs-corrected high-resolution TEM image from which a periodic component is extracted, and shows a lattice arrangement.

In FIG. 34D, a portion where a lattice arrangement is broken is denoted with a dashed line. A region surrounded by a dashed line is one pellet. The portion denoted with the dashed line is a junction of pellets. The dashed line draws a hexagon, which means that the pellet has a hexagonal shape. Note that the shape of the pellet is not always a regular hexagon but is a non-regular hexagon in many cases.

In FIG. 34E, a dotted line denotes a portion where the direction of a lattice arrangement is changed between a region with a regular lattice arrangement and another region with a regular lattice arrangement, and a dashed line denotes the change in the direction of the lattice arrangement. A clear crystal grain boundary cannot be observed even in the vicinity of the dotted line. When a lattice point in the vicinity of the dotted line is regarded as a center and surrounding lattice points are joined, a distorted hexagon, pentagon, and/or heptagon can be formed, for example. That is, a lattice arrangement is distorted so that formation of a crystal grain boundary is inhibited. This is probably because the CAAC-OS can tolerate distortion owing to a low density of the atomic arrangement in an a-b plane direction, an interatomic bond distance changed by substitution of a metal element, and the like.

As described above, the CAAC-OS has c-axis alignment, its pellets (nanocrystals) are connected in an a-b plane direction, and the crystal structure has distortion. For this reason, the CAAC-OS can also be referred to as an oxide semiconductor including a c-axis-aligned a-b-plane-anchored (CAA) crystal.

The CAAC-OS is an oxide semiconductor with high crystallinity. Entry of impurities, formation of defects, or the like might decrease the crystallinity of an oxide semiconductor. This means that the CAAC-OS has small amounts of impurities and defects (e.g., oxygen vacancies).

Note that the impurity means an element other than the main components of the oxide semiconductor, such as hydrogen, carbon, silicon, or a transition metal element. For example, an element (specifically, silicon or the like) having higher strength of bonding to oxygen than a metal element included in an oxide semiconductor extracts oxygen from the oxide semiconductor, which results in disorder of the atomic arrangement and reduced crystallinity of the oxide semiconductor. A heavy metal such as iron or nickel, argon, carbon dioxide, or the like has a large atomic radius (or molecular radius), and thus disturbs the atomic arrangement of the oxide semiconductor and decreases crystallinity.

<nc-OS>

Next, an nc-OS is described.

Analysis of an nc-OS by XRD is described. When the structure of an nc-OS is analyzed by an out-of-plane method, a peak indicating orientation does not appear. That is, a crystal of an nc-OS does not have orientation.

For example, when an electron beam with a probe diameter of 50 nm is incident on a 34-nm-thick region of thinned nc-OS including an InGaZnO₄ crystal in a direction parallel to the formation surface, a ring-shaped diffraction pattern (a nanobeam electron diffraction pattern) shown in FIG. 35A is observed. FIG. 35B shows a diffraction pattern obtained when an electron beam with a probe diameter of 1 nm is incident on the same sample. As shown in FIG. 35B, a plurality of spots are observed in a ring-like region. In other words, ordering in an nc-OS is not observed with an electron beam with a probe diameter of 50 nm but is observed with an electron beam with a probe diameter of 1 nm.

Furthermore, an electron diffraction pattern in which spots are arranged in an approximately regular hexagonal shape is observed in some cases as shown in FIG. 35C when an electron beam having a probe diameter of 1 nm is incident on a region with a thickness of less than 10 nm. This means that an nc-OS has a well-ordered region, i.e., a crystal, in the range of less than 10 nm in thickness. Note that an electron diffraction pattern having regularity is not observed in some regions because crystals are aligned in various directions.

FIG. 35D shows a Cs-corrected high-resolution TEM image of a cross section of an nc-OS observed from the direction substantially parallel to the formation surface. In a high-resolution TEM image, an nc-OS has a region in which a crystal part is observed, such as the part indicated by additional lines in FIG. 35D, and a region in which a crystal part is not clearly observed. In most cases, the size of a crystal part included in the nc-OS is greater than or equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 10 nm, in particular, greater than or equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 3 nm. Note that an oxide semiconductor including a crystal part whose size is greater than 10 nm and less than or equal to 100 nm is sometimes referred to as a microcrystalline oxide semiconductor. In a high-resolution TEM image of the nc-OS, for example, a grain boundary is not clearly observed in some cases. Note that there is a possibility that the origin of the nanocrystal is the same as that of a pellet in a CAAC-OS. Therefore, a crystal part of the nc-OS may be referred to as a pellet in the following description.

As described above, in the nc-OS, a microscopic region (e.g., a region with a size greater than or equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 10 nm, in particular, a region with a size greater than or equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 3 nm) has a periodic atomic arrangement. There is no regularity of crystal orientation between different pellets in the nc-OS. Thus, the orientation of the whole film is not ordered. Accordingly, the nc-OS cannot be distinguished from an a-like OS or an amorphous oxide semiconductor, depending on an analysis method.

Since there is no regularity of crystal orientation between the pellets (nanocrystals) as mentioned above, the nc-OS can also be referred to as an oxide semiconductor including random aligned nanocrystals (RANC) or an oxide semiconductor including non-aligned nanocrystals (NANC).

The nc-OS is an oxide semiconductor that has high regularity as compared to an amorphous oxide semiconductor. Therefore, the nc-OS is likely to have a lower density of defect states than an a-like OS and an amorphous oxide semiconductor. Note that there is no regularity of crystal orientation between different pellets in the nc-OS. Therefore, the nc-OS has a higher density of defect states than the CAAC-OS.

<a-Like OS>

An a-like OS has a structure intermediate between those of the nc-OS and the amorphous oxide semiconductor.

FIGS. 36A and 36B are high-resolution cross-sectional TEM images of an a-like OS. FIG. 36A is the high-resolution cross-sectional TEM image of the a-like OS at the start of the electron irradiation. FIG. 36B is the high-resolution cross-sectional TEM image of a-like OS after the electron (e) irradiation at 4.3×10⁸ e⁻/nm². FIGS. 36A and 36B show that stripe-like bright regions extending vertically are observed in the a-like OS from the start of the electron irradiation. It can be also found that the shape of the bright region changes after the electron irradiation. Note that the bright region is presumably a void or a low-density region.

The a-like OS has an unstable structure because it contains a void. To verify that an a-like OS has an unstable structure as compared to a CAAC-OS and an nc-OS, a change in structure caused by electron irradiation is described below.

An a-like OS, an nc-OS, and a CAAC-OS are prepared as samples. Each of the samples is an In—Ga—Zn oxide.

First, a high-resolution cross-sectional TEM image of each sample is obtained. The high-resolution cross-sectional TEM images show that all the samples have crystal parts.

It is known that a unit cell of an InGaZnO₄ crystal has a structure in which nine layers including three In—O layers and six Ga—Zn—O layers are stacked in the c-axis direction. The distance between the adjacent layers is equivalent to the lattice spacing on the (009) plane (also referred to as d value). The value is calculated to be 0.29 nm from crystal structural analysis. Accordingly, a portion where the spacing between lattice fringes is greater than or equal to 0.28 nm and less than or equal to 0.30 nm is regarded as a crystal part of InGaZnO₄ in the following description. Each of lattice fringes corresponds to the a-b plane of the InGaZnO₄ crystal.

FIG. 37 shows change in the average size of crystal parts (at 22 points to 30 points) in each sample. Note that the crystal part size corresponds to the length of a lattice fringe. FIG. 37 indicates that the crystal part size in the a-like OS increases with an increase in the cumulative electron dose in obtaining TEM images, for example. As shown in FIG. 37, a crystal part of approximately 1.2 nm (also referred to as an initial nucleus) at the start of TEM observation grows to a size of approximately 1.9 nm at a cumulative electron (e⁻) dose of 4.2×10⁸ e⁻/nm². In contrast, the crystal part size in the nc-OS and the CAAC-OS shows little change from the start of electron irradiation to a cumulative electron dose of 4.2×10⁸ e⁻/nm². As shown in FIG. 37, the crystal part sizes in an nc-OS and a CAAC-OS are approximately 1.3 nm and approximately 1.8 nm, respectively, regardless of the cumulative electron dose. For the electron beam irradiation and TEM observation, a Hitachi H-9000NAR transmission electron microscope is used. The conditions of electron beam irradiation are as follows: the accelerating voltage is 300 kV; the current density is 6.7×10⁵ e⁻/(nm²·s); and the diameter of irradiation region is 230 nm.

In this manner, growth of the crystal part in the a-like OS is sometimes induced by electron irradiation. In contrast, in the nc-OS and the CAAC-OS, growth of the crystal part is hardly induced by electron irradiation. Therefore, the a-like OS has an unstable structure as compared to the nc-OS and the CAAC-OS.

The a-like OS has a lower density than the nc-OS and the CAAC-OS because it contains a void. Specifically, the density of the a-like OS is higher than or equal to 78.6% and lower than 92.3% of the density of the single crystal oxide semiconductor having the same composition. The density of each of the nc-OS and the CAAC-OS is higher than or equal to 92.3% and lower than 100% of the density of the single crystal oxide semiconductor having the same composition. Note that it is difficult to deposit an oxide semiconductor having a density of lower than 78% of the density of the single crystal oxide semiconductor.

For example, in the case of an oxide semiconductor having an atomic ratio of In:Ga:Zn=1:1:1, the density of single crystal InGaZnO₄ with a rhombohedral crystal structure is 6.357 g/cm³. Accordingly, in the case of the oxide semiconductor having an atomic ratio of In:Ga:Zn=1:1:1, the density of the a-like OS is higher than or equal to 5.0 g/cm³ and lower than 5.9 g/cm³. For example, in the case of the oxide semiconductor having an atomic ratio of In:Ga:Zn=1:1:1, the density of each of the nc-OS and the CAAC-OS is higher than or equal to 5.9 g/cm³ and lower than 6.3 g/cm³.

Note that in the case where an oxide semiconductor having a certain composition does not exist in a single crystal structure, single crystal oxide semiconductors with different compositions are combined at an adequate ratio, which makes it possible to calculate density equivalent to that of a single crystal oxide semiconductor with the desired composition. The density of a single crystal oxide semiconductor having the desired composition can be calculated using a weighted average according to the combination ratio of the single crystal oxide semiconductors with different compositions. Note that it is preferable to use as few kinds of single crystal oxide semiconductors as possible to calculate the density.

As described above, oxide semiconductors have various structures and various properties. Note that an oxide semiconductor may be a stacked layer film including two or more films of an amorphous oxide semiconductor, an a-like OS, an nc-OS, and a CAAC-OS, for example.

<Carrier Density of Oxide Semiconductor>

The carrier density of an oxide semiconductor will be described below.

Examples of a factor affecting the carrier density of an oxide semiconductor include oxygen vacancy (V_(O)) and impurities in the oxide semiconductor.

As the amount of oxygen vacancy in the oxide semiconductor increases, the density of defect states increases when hydrogen is bonded to the oxygen vacancy (this state is also referred to as V_(O)H). The density of defect states also increases with an increase in the amount of impurity in the oxide semiconductor. Hence, the carrier density of an oxide semiconductor can be controlled by controlling the density of defect states in the oxide semiconductor.

A transistor using the oxide semiconductor in a channel region will be described below.

The carrier density of the oxide semiconductor is preferably reduced in order to inhibit the negative shift of the threshold voltage of the transistor or reduce the off-state current of the transistor. In order to reduce the carrier density of the oxide semiconductor, the impurity concentration in the oxide semiconductor is reduced so that the density of defect states can be reduced. In this specification and the like, a state with a low impurity concentration and a low density of defect states is referred to as a highly purified intrinsic or substantially highly purified intrinsic state. The carrier density of a highly purified intrinsic oxide semiconductor is lower than 8×10¹⁵ cm⁻³, preferably lower than 1×10¹¹ cm⁻³, and further preferably lower than 1×10¹⁰ cm⁻³ and is higher than or equal to 1×10⁻⁹ cm⁻³.

In contrast, the carrier density of the oxide semiconductor is preferably increased in order to improve the on-state current of the transistor or improve the field-effect mobility of the transistor. In order to increase the carrier density of the oxide semiconductor, the impurity concentration or the density of defect states in the oxide semiconductor is slightly increased. Alternatively, the bandgap of the oxide semiconductor is preferably narrowed. For example, an oxide semiconductor that has a slightly high impurity concentration or a slightly high density of defect states in the range where a favorable on/off ratio is obtained in the I_(d)-V_(g) characteristics of the transistor can be regarded as substantially intrinsic. Furthermore, an oxide semiconductor that has a high electron affinity and thus has a narrow bandgap so as to increase the density of thermally excited electrons (carriers) can be regarded as substantially intrinsic. Note that a transistor using an oxide semiconductor with higher electron affinity has lower threshold voltage.

The aforementioned oxide semiconductor with an increased carrier density has somewhat n-type conductivity; thus, it can be referred to as a “slightly-n” oxide semiconductor.

The carrier density of a substantially intrinsic oxide semiconductor is preferably higher than or equal to 1×10⁵ cm⁻³ and lower than 1×10¹⁸ cm⁻³, further preferably higher than or equal to 1×10⁷ cm⁻³ and lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁷ cm⁻³, still further preferably higher than or equal to 1×10⁹ cm⁻³ and lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁶ cm⁻³, yet further preferably higher than or equal to 1×10¹⁰ cm⁻³ and lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁶ cm⁻³, and yet still preferably higher than or equal to 1×10¹¹ cm⁻³ and lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁵ cm⁻³.

The use of the substantially intrinsic oxide semiconductor film described above may improve the reliability of the transistor. Here, the reason why the transistor including the oxide semiconductor film in a channel region has high reliability will be described with reference to FIG. 38. FIG. 38 is an energy band diagram of the transistor including the oxide semiconductor film in the channel region.

In FIG. 38, GE stands for a gate electrode, GI stands for a gate insulating film, OS stands for an oxide semiconductor layer, and SD stands for a source electrode or a drain electrode. That is to say, FIG. 38 is an example of the energy band of the gate electrode, the gate insulating film, the oxide semiconductor film, and the source electrode or the drain electrode in contact with the oxide semiconductor film.

In FIG. 38, a silicon oxide film is used as the gate insulating film, and an In—Ga—Zn oxide is used for the oxide semiconductor film. The transition level (∈f) of a defect that might be formed in the silicon oxide film is assumed to be formed at a position approximately 3.1 eV apart from the conduction band minimum of the gate insulating film. Furthermore, the Fermi level (Ef) of the silicon oxide film at the interface between the oxide semiconductor film and the silicon oxide film when the gate voltage Vg is 30 V is assumed to be formed at a position approximately 3.6 eV apart from the conduction band minimum of the gate insulating film. Note that the Fermi level (Ef) of the silicon oxide film changes depending on the gate voltage. For example, the Fermi level (Ef) of the silicon oxide film at the interface between the oxide semiconductor layer and the silicon oxide film is lowered as the gate voltage is increased. In FIG. 38, hollow circles indicate electrons (carriers), and symbols “X” indicate defect states in the silicon oxide film.

As illustrated in FIG. 38, for example, when the carriers are thermally excited under application of the gate voltage, the carriers are trapped in the defect states (“X” in the diagram), and the charge state of the defect states is changed from positive (“+”) to neutral (“0”). Specifically, in the case where the value obtained by adding the thermal excitation energy to the Fermi level (Ef) of the silicon oxide film becomes greater than the transition level (∈f) of the defect, the charge state of the defect states in the silicon oxide film is changed from positive to neutral, and the threshold voltage of the transistor is positively shifted.

When an oxide semiconductor film with a different electron affinity is used, the Fermi level of the interface between the gate insulating film and the oxide semiconductor film might be changed. When an oxide semiconductor film with a higher electron affinity is used, the conduction band minimum of the gate insulating film is relatively high at the interface between the gate insulating film and the oxide semiconductor film or in the vicinity of the interface. In that case, the defect states (“X” in FIG. 38) that can be formed in the gate insulating film are also located in a relatively high position; thus, the energy difference between the Fermi level of the gate insulating film and the Fermi level of the oxide semiconductor film is increased. This results in less charge trapped in the gate insulating film. For example, a change in the charge states of the defect states that can be formed in the silicon oxide film is smaller; thus, a change in the threshold voltage of the transistor due to gate bias temperature (GBT) stress can be smaller.

The structure described in this embodiment can be used in appropriate combination with the structure described in any of the other embodiments.

Embodiment 5

A CPU including a semiconductor device such as any of the above-described transistors or the above-described memory device is described below.

<Configuration of CPU>

FIG. 39 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a CPU including any of the above-described transistors as a component.

The CPU illustrated in FIG. 39 includes, over a substrate 1190, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 1191, an ALU controller 1192, an instruction decoder 1193, an interrupt controller 1194, a timing controller 1195, a register 1196, a register controller 1197, a bus interface 1198, a rewritable ROM 1199, and an ROM interface 1189. A semiconductor substrate, an SOI substrate, a glass substrate, or the like is used as the substrate 1190. The ROM 1199 and the ROM interface 1189 may be provided over a separate chip. Needless to say, the CPU in FIG. 39 is just an example of a simplified structure, and an actual CPU may have a variety of structures depending on the application. For example, the CPU may have the following configuration: a structure including the CPU illustrated in FIG. 39 or an arithmetic circuit is considered as one core; a plurality of the cores are included; and the cores operate in parallel. The number of bits that the CPU can process in an internal arithmetic circuit or in a data bus can be 8, 16, 32, or 64, for example.

An instruction that is input to the CPU through the bus interface 1198 is input to the instruction decoder 1193 and decoded therein, and then, input to the ALU controller 1192, the interrupt controller 1194, the register controller 1197, and the timing controller 1195.

The ALU controller 1192, the interrupt controller 1194, the register controller 1197, and the timing controller 1195 conduct various controls in accordance with the decoded instruction. Specifically, the ALU controller 1192 generates signals for controlling the operation of the ALU 1191. While the CPU is executing a program, the interrupt controller 1194 processes an interrupt request from an external input/output device or a peripheral circuit depending on its priority or a mask state. The register controller 1197 generates an address of the register 1196, and reads/writes data from/to the register 1196 depending on the state of the CPU.

The timing controller 1195 generates signals for controlling operation timings of the ALU 1191, the ALU controller 1192, the instruction decoder 1193, the interrupt controller 1194, and the register controller 1197. For example, the timing controller 1195 includes an internal clock generator for generating an internal clock signal based on a reference clock signal, and supplies the internal clock signal to the above circuits.

In the CPU illustrated in FIG. 39, a memory cell is provided in the register 1196. For the memory cell of the register 1196, any of the above-described transistors, the above-described memory device, or the like can be used.

In the CPU illustrated in FIG. 39, the register controller 1197 selects operation of retaining data in the register 1196 in accordance with an instruction from the ALU 1191. That is, the register controller 1197 selects whether data is held by a flip-flop or by a capacitor in the memory cell included in the register 1196. When data holding by the flip-flop is selected, a power supply voltage is supplied to the memory cell in the register 1196. When data holding by the capacitor is selected, the data is rewritten in the capacitor, and supply of the power supply voltage to the memory cell in the register 1196 can be stopped.

FIG. 40 is an example of a circuit diagram of a memory element 1200 that can be used as the register 1196. The memory element 1200 includes a circuit 1201 in which stored data is volatile when power supply is stopped, a circuit 1202 in which stored data is nonvolatile even when power supply is stopped, a switch 1203, a switch 1204, a logic element 1206, a capacitor 1207, and a circuit 1220 having a selecting function. The circuit 1202 includes a capacitor 1208, a transistor 1209, and a transistor 1210. Note that the memory element 1200 may further include another element such as a diode, a resistor, or an inductor, as needed.

Here, the above-described memory device can be used as the circuit 1202. When supply of a power supply voltage to the memory element 1200 is stopped, GND (0 V) or a potential at which the transistor 1209 in the circuit 1202 is turned off continues to be input to a gate of the transistor 1209. For example, the gate of the transistor 1209 is grounded through a load such as a resistor.

Shown here is an example in which the switch 1203 is a transistor 1213 having one conductivity type (e.g., an n-channel transistor) and the switch 1204 is a transistor 1214 having a conductivity type opposite to the one conductivity type (e.g., a p-channel transistor). A first terminal of the switch 1203 corresponds to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 1213, a second terminal of the switch 1203 corresponds to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1213, and conduction or non-conduction between the first terminal and the second terminal of the switch 1203 (i.e., the on/off state of the transistor 1213) is selected by a control signal RD input to a gate of the transistor 1213. A first terminal of the switch 1204 corresponds to one of a source and a drain of the transistor 1214, a second terminal of the switch 1204 corresponds to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1214, and conduction or non-conduction between the first terminal and the second terminal of the switch 1204 (i.e., the on/off state of the transistor 1214) is selected by the control signal RD input to a gate of the transistor 1214.

One of a source and a drain of the transistor 1209 is electrically connected to one of a pair of electrodes of the capacitor 1208 and a gate of the transistor 1210. Here, the connection portion is referred to as a node M2. One of a source and a drain of the transistor 1210 is electrically connected to a line that can supply a low power supply potential (e.g., a GND line), and the other thereof is electrically connected to the first terminal of the switch 1203 (the one of the source and the drain of the transistor 1213). The second terminal of the switch 1203 (the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1213) is electrically connected to the first terminal of the switch 1204 (the one of the source and the drain of the transistor 1214). The second terminal of the switch 1204 (the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1214) is electrically connected to a line that can supply a power supply potential VDD. The second terminal of the switch 1203 (the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1213), the first terminal of the switch 1204 (the one of the source and the drain of the transistor 1214), an input terminal of the logic element 1206, and one of a pair of electrodes of the capacitor 1207 are electrically connected to each other. Here, the connection portion is referred to as a node M1. The other of the pair of electrodes of the capacitor 1207 can be supplied with a constant potential. For example, the other of the pair of electrodes of the capacitor 1207 can be supplied with a low power supply potential (e.g., GND) or a high power supply potential (e.g., VDD). The other of the pair of electrodes of the capacitor 1207 is electrically connected to the line that can supply a low power supply potential (e.g., a GND line). The other of the pair of electrodes of the capacitor 1208 can be supplied with a constant potential. For example, the other of the pair of electrodes of the capacitor 1208 can be supplied with a low power supply potential (e.g., GND) or a high power supply potential (e.g., VDD). The other of the pair of electrodes of the capacitor 1208 is electrically connected to the line that can supply a low power supply potential (e.g., a GND line).

The capacitor 1207 and the capacitor 1208 are not necessarily provided as long as the parasitic capacitance of the transistor, the line, or the like is actively utilized.

A control signal WE is input to the gate of the transistor 1209. As for each of the switch 1203 and the switch 1204, a conduction state or a non-conduction state between the first terminal and the second terminal is selected by the control signal RD that is different from the control signal WE. When the first terminal and the second terminal of one of the switches are in the conduction state, the first terminal and the second terminal of the other of the switches are in the non-conduction state.

A signal corresponding to data retained in the circuit 1201 is input to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1209. FIG. 40 illustrates an example in which a signal output from the circuit 1201 is input to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1209. The logic value of a signal output from the second terminal of the switch 1203 (the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1213) is inverted by the logic element 1206, and the inverted signal is input to the circuit 1201 through the circuit 1220.

In the example of FIG. 40, a signal output from the second terminal of the switch 1203 (the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1213) is input to the circuit 1201 through the logic element 1206 and the circuit 1220; however, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. The signal output from the second terminal of the switch 1203 (the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1213) may be input to the circuit 1201 without its logic value being inverted. For example, in the case where the circuit 1201 includes a node in which a signal obtained by inversion of the logic value of a signal input from the input terminal is retained, the signal output from the second terminal of the switch 1203 (the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 1213) can be input to the node.

In FIG. 40, the transistors included in the memory element 1200 except for the transistor 1209 can each be a transistor in which a channel is formed in a film formed using a semiconductor other than an oxide semiconductor or in the substrate 1190. For example, the transistor can be a transistor whose channel is formed in a silicon film or a silicon substrate. Alternatively, all the transistors in the memory element 1200 may be a transistor in which a channel is formed in an oxide semiconductor. Further alternatively, in the memory element 1200, a transistor in which a channel is formed in an oxide semiconductor can be included besides the transistor 1209, and a transistor in which a channel is formed in a layer including a semiconductor other than an oxide semiconductor or the substrate 1190 can be used for the rest of the transistors.

As the circuit 1201 in FIG. 40, for example, a flip-flop circuit can be used. As the logic element 1206, for example, an inverter or a clocked inverter can be used.

In a period during which the memory element 1200 is not supplied with the power supply voltage, the semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention can retain data stored in the circuit 1201 by the capacitor 1208 that is provided in the circuit 1202.

The off-state current of a transistor in which a channel is formed in an oxide semiconductor is extremely low. For example, the off-state current of a transistor in which a channel is formed in an oxide semiconductor is significantly lower than that of a transistor in which a channel is formed in silicon having crystallinity. Thus, when the transistor is used as the transistor 1209, a signal held in the capacitor 1208 is retained for a long time also in a period during which the power supply voltage is not supplied to the memory element 1200. The memory element 1200 can accordingly retain the stored content (data) also in a period during which the supply of the power supply voltage is stopped.

Since the above-described memory element performs pre-charge operation with the switch 1203 and the switch 1204, the time required for the circuit 1201 to retain original data again after the supply of the power supply voltage is restarted can be shortened.

In the circuit 1202, a signal retained by the capacitor 1208 is input to the gate of the transistor 1210. Therefore, after supply of the power supply voltage to the memory element 1200 is restarted, the state of the transistor 1210 (the on state or the off state) is determined in accordance with the signal retained by the capacitor 1208, and the signal can be read from the circuit 1202. Consequently, an original signal can be accurately read even when a potential corresponding to the signal retained by the capacitor 1208 varies to some degree.

By applying the above-described memory element 1200 to a memory device such as a register or a cache memory included in a processor, data in the memory device can be prevented from being lost owing to the stop of the supply of the power supply voltage. Furthermore, shortly after the supply of the power supply voltage is restarted, the memory element can be returned to the same state as that before the power supply is stopped. Therefore, the power supply can be stopped even for a short time in the processor or one or a plurality of logic circuits included in the processor. Accordingly, power consumption can be suppressed.

Although the memory element 1200 is used in a CPU, the memory element 1200 can also be used in an LSI such as a digital signal processor (DSP) or a custom LSI, and a radio frequency (RF) device. The memory element 1200 can also be used in an LSI such as a programmable logic circuit (or a programmable logic device (PLD)) including a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) and an RF device.

The structure described in this embodiment can be used in appropriate combination with the structure described in any of the other embodiments.

Embodiment 6

In this embodiment, display devices each including the transistor or the like of one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 41A to 41C and FIGS. 42A and 42B.

<Structure of Display Device>

Examples of a display element provided in the display device include a liquid crystal element (also referred to as a liquid crystal display element) and a light-emitting element (also referred to as a light-emitting display element). The light-emitting element includes, in its category, an element whose luminance is controlled by a current or voltage, and specifically includes, in its category, an inorganic electroluminescent (EL) element, an organic EL element, and the like. A display device including an EL element (EL display device) and a display device including a liquid crystal element (liquid crystal display device) are described below as examples of the display device.

Note that the display device described below includes in its category a panel in which a display element is sealed and a module in which an IC such as a controller is mounted on the panel.

The display device described below refers to an image display device or a light source (including a lighting device). The display device includes any of the following modules: a module provided with a connector such as an FPC or a TCP; a module in which a printed wiring board is provided at the end of TCP; and a module in which an IC is mounted directly on a display element by a COG method.

FIGS. 41A to 41C illustrate an example of an EL display device of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 41A is a circuit diagram of a pixel in an EL display device. FIG. 41B is a top view showing the whole of the EL display device. FIG. 41C is a cross-sectional view taken along part of dashed-dotted line M-N in FIG. 33B.

FIG. 41A illustrates an example of a circuit diagram of a pixel used in an EL display device.

Note that in this specification and the like, it might be possible for those skilled in the art to constitute one embodiment of the invention even when portions to which all the terminals of an active element (e.g., a transistor or a diode), a passive element (e.g., a capacitor or a resistor), or the like are connected are not specified. In other words, one embodiment of the invention can be clear even when connection portions are not specified. Furthermore, in the case where a connection portion is disclosed in this specification and the like, it can be determined that one embodiment of the invention in which a connection portion is not specified is disclosed in this specification and the like, in some cases. Particularly in the case where the number of portions to which a terminal is connected might be more than one, it is not necessary to specify the portions to which the terminal is connected. Therefore, it might be possible to constitute one embodiment of the invention by specifying only portions to which some of terminals of an active element (e.g., a transistor or a diode), a passive element (e.g., a capacitor or a resistor), or the like are connected.

Note that in this specification and the like, it might be possible for those skilled in the art to specify the invention when at least the connection portion of a circuit is specified. Alternatively, it might be possible for those skilled in the art to specify the invention when at least a function of a circuit is specified. In other words, when a function of a circuit is specified, one embodiment of the present invention can be clear. Furthermore, it can be determined that one embodiment of the present invention whose function is specified is disclosed in this specification and the like. Therefore, when a connection portion of a circuit is specified, the circuit is disclosed as one embodiment of the invention even when a function is not specified, and one embodiment of the invention can be constituted. Alternatively, when a function of a circuit is specified, the circuit is disclosed as one embodiment of the invention even when a connection portion is not specified, and one embodiment of the invention can be constituted.

The EL display device illustrated in FIG. 41A includes a switching element 743, a transistor 741, a capacitor 742, and a light-emitting element 719.

Note that FIG. 41A and the like each illustrate an example of a circuit structure; therefore, a transistor can be provided additionally. In contrast, for each node in FIG. 41A and the like, it is possible not to provide an additional transistor, switch, passive element, or the like.

A gate of the transistor 741 is electrically connected to one terminal of the switching element 743 and one electrode of the capacitor 742. A source of the transistor 741 is electrically connected to the other electrode of the capacitor 742 and one electrode of the light-emitting element 719. A power supply potential VDD is supplied to a drain of the transistor 741. The other terminal of the switching element 743 is electrically connected to a signal line 744. A constant potential is supplied to the other electrode of the light-emitting element 719. The constant potential is a ground potential GND or a potential lower than the ground potential GND.

It is preferable to use a transistor as the switching element 743. When the transistor is used as the switching element, the area of a pixel can be reduced, so that the EL display device can have high resolution. As the switching element 743, a transistor formed through the same step as the transistor 741 can be used, so that EL display devices can be manufactured with high productivity. Note that as the transistor 741 and/or the switching element 743, the above-described transistor can be used, for example.

FIG. 41B is a top view of the EL display device. The EL display device includes a substrate 700, a substrate 750, a sealant 734, a driver circuit 735, a driver circuit 736, a pixel 737, and an FPC 732. The sealant 734 is provided between the substrate 700 and the substrate 750 so as to surround the pixel 737, the driver circuit 735, and the driver circuit 736. Note that the driver circuit 735 and/or the driver circuit 736 may be provided outside the sealant 734.

FIG. 41C is a cross-sectional view of the EL display device taken along part of dashed-dotted line M-N in FIG. 41B.

The transistor 741 in FIG. 41C includes a conductor 705 over the substrate 700, an insulator 701 in which the conductor 705 is embedded, an insulator 702 over the insulator 701, a semiconductor 703 over the insulator 702, a conductor 707 a and a conductor 707 b over the semiconductor 703, an insulator 706 over the semiconductor 703, and a conductor 704 over the insulator 706. Note that the structure of the transistor 741 is just an example; the transistor 741 may have a structure different from that in FIG. 41C.

Thus, in the transistor 741 illustrated in FIG. 41C, the conductors 704 and 705 each function as a gate electrode, the insulators 702 and 706 each function as a gate insulator, and the conductors 707 a and 707 b function as a source electrode or a drain electrode. Note that in some cases, electrical characteristics of the semiconductor 703 change if light enters the semiconductor 703. To prevent this, it is preferable that one or more of the conductor 705 and the conductor 704 have a light-blocking property.

Note that an insulator 709 including an oxygen-excess region is provided over the transistor 741. The transistor 741 is provided between an insulator 708 and an insulator 710 having a barrier property.

FIG. 41C illustrates a structure including, as the capacitor 742, a conductor 714 a over an insulator 710, an insulator 714 b over the conductor 714 a, and a conductor 714 c over the insulator 714 b.

In the capacitor 742, the conductor 714 c serves as one electrode, and the conductor 714 a serves as the other electrode.

The capacitor 742 illustrated in FIG. 41C has a large capacitance per area occupied by the capacitor. Therefore, the EL display device illustrated in FIG. 41C has high display quality.

An insulator 720 is provided over the transistor 741 and the capacitor 742. Here, the insulator 716 and the insulator 720 may have an opening portion reaching the region 705 a that serves as the source of the transistor 741. A conductor 781 is provided over the insulator 720. The conductor 781 is electrically connected to the transistor 741 through the opening portion in the insulator 720.

A partition wall 784 having an opening portion reaching the conductor 781 is provided over the conductor 781. A light-emitting layer 782 in contact with the conductor 781 through the opening portion formed in the partition wall 784 is provided over the partition wall 784. A conductor 783 is provided over the light-emitting layer 782. A region where the conductor 781, the light-emitting layer 782, and the conductor 783 overlap with one another serves as the light-emitting element 719.

So far, examples of the EL display device are described. Next, an example of a liquid crystal display device is described.

FIG. 42A is a circuit diagram showing a structural example of a pixel of the liquid crystal display device. A pixel illustrated in FIGS. 42A and 42B includes a transistor 751, a capacitor 752, and an element (liquid crystal element) 753 in which a space between a pair of electrodes is filled with a liquid crystal.

One of a source and a drain of the transistor 751 is electrically connected to a signal line 755, and a gate of the transistor 751 is electrically connected to a scan line 754.

One electrode of the capacitor 752 is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 751, and the other electrode of the capacitor 752 is electrically connected to a wiring for supplying a common potential.

One electrode of the liquid crystal element 753 is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 751, and the other electrode of the liquid crystal element 753 is electrically connected to a wiring for supplying a common potential. The common potential supplied to the wiring electrically connected to the other electrode of the capacitor 752 may be different from that supplied to the other electrode of the liquid crystal element 753.

Note that the description of the liquid crystal display device is made on the assumption that the top view of the liquid crystal display device is similar to that of the EL display device. FIG. 42B is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display device taken along dashed-dotted line M-N in FIG. 41B. In FIG. 42B, the FPC 732 is connected to the wiring 733 a via the terminal 731. Note that the wiring 733 a may be formed using the same kind of conductor as the conductor of the transistor 751 or using the same kind of semiconductor as the semiconductor of the transistor 751.

For the transistor 751, the description of the transistor 741 is referred to. For the capacitor 752, the description of the capacitor 742 is referred to. Note that the structure of the capacitor 752 in FIG. 42B corresponds to, but is not limited to, the structure of the capacitor 742 in FIG. 41C.

Note that in the case where an oxide semiconductor is used as the semiconductor of the transistor 751, the off-state current of the transistor 751 can be extremely small. Therefore, an electric charge held in the capacitor 752 is unlikely to leak, so that the voltage applied to the liquid crystal element 753 can be maintained for a long time. Accordingly, the transistor 751 can be kept off during a period in which moving images with few motions or a still image are/is displayed, whereby power for the operation of the transistor 751 can be saved in that period; accordingly a liquid crystal display device with low power consumption can be provided. Furthermore, the area occupied by the capacitor 752 can be reduced; thus, a liquid crystal display device with a high aperture ratio or a high-resolution liquid crystal display device can be provided.

An insulator 721 is provided over the transistor 751 and the capacitor 752. The insulator 721 has an opening reaching the transistor 751. A conductor 791 is provided over the insulator 721. The conductor 791 is electrically connected to the transistor 751 through the opening in the insulator 721.

An insulator 792 serving as an alignment film is provided over the conductor 791. A liquid crystal layer 793 is provided over the insulator 792. An insulator 794 serving as an alignment film is provided over the liquid crystal layer 793. A spacer 795 is provided over the insulator 794. A conductor 796 is provided over the spacer 795 and the insulator 794. A substrate 797 is provided over the conductor 796.

Note that the following methods can be employed for driving the liquid crystal: a twisted nematic (TN) mode, a super twisted nematic (STN) mode, an in-plane-switching (IPS) mode, a fringe field switching (FFS) mode, a multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) mode, a patterned vertical alignment (PVA) mode, an advanced super view (ASV) mode, an axially symmetric aligned microcell (ASM) mode, an optically compensated birefringence (OCB) mode, an electrically controlled birefringence (ECB) mode, an ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mode, an anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) mode, a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) mode, a guest-host mode, and a blue phase mode. Note that the present invention is not limited to these examples, and various driving methods can be used.

Owing to the above-described structure, a display device including a capacitor occupying a small area, a display device with high display quality, or a high-resolution display device can be provided.

For example, in this specification and the like, a display element, a display device which is a device including a display element, a light-emitting element, and a light-emitting device which is a device including a light-emitting element can employ various modes or can include various elements. For example, the display element, the display device, the light-emitting element, or the light-emitting device includes at least one of a light-emitting diode (LED) for white, red, green, blue, or the like, a transistor (a transistor that emits light depending on current), an electron emitter, a liquid crystal element, electronic ink, an electrophoretic element, a grating light valve (GLV), a plasma display panel (PDP), a display element using micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), a digital micromirror device (DMD), a digital micro shutter (DMS), an interferometric modulator display (IMOD) element, a MEMS shutter display element, an optical-interference-type MEMS display element, an electrowetting element, a piezoelectric ceramic display, and a display element including a carbon nanotube. Other than the above, display media whose contrast, luminance, reflectivity, transmittance, or the like is changed by an electrical or magnetic effect may be included.

Note that examples of display devices having EL elements include an EL display. Examples of a display device including an electron emitter include a field emission display (FED), an SED-type flat panel display (SED: surface-conduction electron-emitter display), and the like. Examples of display devices including liquid crystal elements include a liquid crystal display (e.g., a transmissive liquid crystal display, a transflective liquid crystal display, a reflective liquid crystal display, a direct-view liquid crystal display, or a projection liquid crystal display). Examples of a display devices having electronic ink or an electrophoretic element include electronic paper. In the case of a transflective liquid crystal display or a reflective liquid crystal display, some of or all of pixel electrodes function as reflective electrodes. For example, some or all of pixel electrodes are formed to contain aluminum, silver, or the like. In such a case, a memory circuit such as an SRAM can be provided under the reflective electrodes, leading to lower power consumption.

Note that in the case of using an LED, graphene or graphite may be provided under an electrode or a nitride semiconductor of the LED. Graphene or graphite may be a multilayer film in which a plurality of layers are stacked. As described above, provision of graphene or graphite enables easy formation of a nitride semiconductor thereover, such as an n-type GaN semiconductor including crystals. Furthermore, a p-type GaN semiconductor including crystals or the like can be provided thereover, and thus the LED can be formed. Note that an AlN layer may be provided between the n-type GaN semiconductor including crystals and graphene or graphite. The GaN semiconductors included in the LED may be formed by MOCVD. Note that when the graphene is provided, the GaN semiconductors included in the LED can also be formed by a sputtering method.

The structure described in this embodiment can be used in appropriate combination with the structure described in any of the other embodiments.

Embodiment 7

In this embodiment, electronic devices each including the transistor or the like of one embodiment of the present invention are described.

<Electronic Device>

The semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention can be used for display devices, laptops, or image reproducing devices provided with recording media (typically devices which reproduce the content of recording media such as DVDs (digital versatile disc) and have displays for displaying the reproduced images). Other than the above, as an electronic apparatuses which can use the semiconductor device of an embodiment of the present invention, mobile phones, portable game machines, portable information terminals, e-book readers, video cameras, digital still cameras, goggle-type displays (head mounted displays), navigation systems, audio reproducing devices (e.g., car audio players and digital audio players), copiers, facsimiles, printers, multifunction printers, automated teller machines (ATM), vending machines, and the like can be given. Specific examples of such electronic apparatuses are shown in FIGS. 43A to 43F.

FIG. 43A illustrates a portable game machine including a housing 901, a housing 902, a display portion 903, a display portion 904, a microphone 905, a speaker 906, an operation key 907, a stylus 908, and the like. Although the portable game machine in FIG. 43A has the two display portions 903 and 904, the number of display portions included in a portable game machine is not limited to this.

FIG. 43B illustrates a portable data terminal including a first housing 911, a second housing 912, a first display portion 913, a second display portion 914, a joint 915, an operation key 916, and the like. The first display portion 913 is provided in the first housing 911, and the second display portion 914 is provided in the second housing 912. The first housing 911 and the second housing 912 are connected to each other with the joint 915, and the angle between the first housing 911 and the second housing 912 can be changed with the joint 915. An image on the first display portion 913 may be switched depending on the angle between the first housing 911 and the second housing 912 at the joint 915. A display device with a position input function may be used as at least one of the first display portion 913 and the second display portion 914. Note that the position input function can be added by provision of a touch panel in a display device. Alternatively, the position input function can be added by provision of a photoelectric conversion element called a photosensor in a pixel area of a display device.

FIG. 43C illustrates a laptop personal computer, which includes a housing 921, a display portion 922, a keyboard 923, a pointing device 924, and the like.

FIG. 43D illustrates the electric refrigerator-freezer including a housing 931, a door for a refrigerator 932, a door for a freezer 933, and the like.

FIG. 43E illustrates a video camera, which includes a first housing 941, a second housing 942, a display portion 943, operation keys 944, a lens 945, a joint 946, and the like. The operation keys 944 and the lens 945 are provided for the first housing 941, and the display portion 943 is provided for the second housing 942. The first housing 941 and the second housing 942 are connected to each other with the joint 946, and the angle between the first housing 941 and the second housing 942 can be changed with the joint 946. Images displayed on the display portion 943 may be switched in accordance with the angle at the joint 946 between the first housing 941 and the second housing 942.

FIG. 43F illustrates a passenger car including a car body 951, wheels 952, a dashboard 953, lights 954, and the like.

The structure described in this embodiment can be used in appropriate combination with the structure described in any of the other embodiments.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described in the above embodiments. Note that one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above examples. That is, various embodiments of the invention are described in this embodiment and the like, and one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to a particular embodiment. For example, an example in which a channel formation region, source and drain regions, and the like of a transistor include an oxide semiconductor is described as one embodiment of the present invention; however, one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this example. Alternatively, depending on circumstances or conditions, various semiconductors may be included in various transistors, a channel formation region of a transistor, a source region or a drain region of a transistor, or the like of one embodiment of the present invention. Depending on circumstances or conditions, at least one of silicon, germanium, silicon germanium, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, aluminum gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, gallium nitride, an organic semiconductor, and the like may be included in various transistors, a channel formation region of a transistor, a source region or a drain region of a transistor, or the like of one embodiment of the present invention. Alternatively, depending on circumstances or conditions, an oxide semiconductor is not necessarily included in various transistors, a channel formation region of a transistor, a source region or a drain region of a transistor, or the like of one embodiment of the present invention, for example.

Example 1

A hydrogen concentration of a stacked-layer structure of an insulator and an oxide of one embodiment of the present invention was measured in Example 1. Note that Samples 1A to 1G were formed in this example.

<1. Structure and Formation Method of Samples>

Samples 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, and 1G relating to one embodiment of the present invention are described below. Samples 1A to 1G each include a substrate 5000, an oxide 5001 over the substrate 5000, and an insulator 5002 over the oxide 5001.

Next, methods for forming the samples are described.

First, a quartz substrate was prepared as the substrate 5000. Then, the oxide 5001 which had a thickness of 50 nm and included In, Ga, and Zn was formed over the substrate 5000. The oxide 5001 was formed under the conditions where an oxide target containing In, Ga, and Zn (with an atomic ratio of In:Ga:Zn=1:1:1) was used; an argon gas at 30 sccm and an oxygen gas at 15 sccm were used as the deposition gases; the deposition pressure was 0.5 Pa; the deposition power was 500 W; the substrate temperature was 300° C.; and the target-substrate distance was 60 mm.

Next, a 100-nm-thick silicon oxynitride film was formed as the insulator 5002 over the oxide 5001 by a plasma CVD method. Silane (SiH₄) at a flow rate of 5 sccm and dinitrogen monoxide (N₂O) at a flow rate of 1000 sccm were used as the deposition gases. In addition, the pressure of a reaction chamber was 133.3 Pa, the substrate surface temperature was 325° C., and a high-frequency (RF) power of 45 W (13.5 MHz) was applied during the deposition.

After that, Samples 1A to 1F were subjected to plasma treatment under an oxygen atmosphere in a plasma CVD apparatus. The plasma treatment was performed under the atmosphere where the flow rate of oxygen (O₂) was 800 sccm. In addition, the pressure of the reaction chamber was 200 Pa, and a high-frequency (RF) power of 135 W (60 MHz) was applied. Note that plasma treatment conditions of Samples 1A to 1G were listed in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Sample Application of Substrate Process time name voltage temperature [° C.] [min] Sample 1A Yes 350 60 Sample 1B Yes 350 10 Sample 1C No 350 60 Sample 1D Yes 400 60 Sample 1E Yes 400 10 Sample 1F No 400 60 Sample 1G — — —

Through the above steps, Samples 1A to 1G of this example were formed.

<2. TDS Measurement Results of Samples>

The concentration of hydrogen contained in the insulator 5002 and the oxide 5001 was measured. The hydrogen concentration was measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) with the use of a dynamic SIMS apparatus PHI ADEPT-1010 produced by ULVAC-PHI, Inc. as an analysis apparatus.

FIGS. 44A and 44B and FIGS. 45A and 45B show the SIMS measurement results. FIG. 44A shows the measurement results of Samples 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1G, and FIG. 44B shows the measurement results of Samples 1D, 1E, 1F, and 1G. In the measurements of FIGS. 44A and 44B, the insulator 5002 was a layer on which quantitation was performed. FIG. 45A shows the measurement results of Samples 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1G, and FIG. 45B shows the measurement results of Samples 1D, 1E, 1F, and 1G. In the measurements of FIGS. 45A and 45B, the oxide 5001 was a layer on which quantitation was performed.

According to FIGS. 44A and 44B, the hydrogen concentration of the insulator 5002 was reduced by plasma treatment. In addition, as the treatment time was increased, hydrogen was reduced more. Furthermore, the treatment temperature was increased, hydrogen was reduced more.

According to FIGS. 45A and 45B, the hydrogen concentration of the oxide 5001, which was located below the insulator 5002, was also reduced by plasma treatment performed from above the insulator 5002. In addition, as the treatment time was increased, hydrogen was reduced more. Furthermore, the treatment temperature was increased, hydrogen was reduced more.

The structure described in this example can be combined as appropriate with any of the structures described in another example and the above embodiments.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application serial no. 2015-254579 filed with Japan Patent Office on Dec. 25, 2015, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor device comprising: a first barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over a substrate; a first insulator over the first barrier layer; a second insulator over the first insulator; a third insulator over the second insulator; a transistor including an oxide semiconductor over the third insulator; a fourth insulator including an oxygen-excess region over the transistor; and a second barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over the fourth insulator, wherein the transistor comprises a first conductor with oxidation resistance, a second conductor with oxidation resistance, and a third conductor with oxidation resistance, wherein the second insulator comprises a high-k material, wherein the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer are in contact with each other in an outer edge of a region where the transistor is provided, and wherein the transistor is surrounded by the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer.
 2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first conductor, the second conductor, and the third conductor are each tantalum nitride.
 3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer are each silicon nitride, and wherein an amount of hydrogen that is released from the silicon nitride and is converted into hydrogen atoms is less than or equal to 10×10¹⁵ atoms/cm², preferably less than or equal to 5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm² when measured by TDS analysis at a temperature range from 50° C. to 500° C.
 4. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer are each aluminum oxide.
 5. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first barrier layer is aluminum oxide, wherein the second barrier layer has a stacked-layer structure including silicon nitride, and wherein an amount of hydrogen that is released from the silicon nitride and is converted into hydrogen atoms is less than or equal to 10×10¹⁵ atoms/cm², preferably less than or equal to 5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm² when measured by TDS analysis at a temperature range from 50° C. to 500° C.
 6. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a first barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over a substrate; forming a first conductor over the first barrier layer; forming a first insulator over the first conductor; forming a second insulator comprising a high-k material over the first insulator; forming a third insulator over the second insulator; forming a first oxide semiconductor over the third insulator; forming a second conductor with oxidation resistance over the first oxide semiconductor; processing the second conductor into an island shape; processing the first oxide semiconductor and the third insulator into an island shape with the use of the island-shaped second conductor as a mask; performing heat treatment; processing the island-shaped second conductor to form a third conductor and a fourth conductor; forming a second oxide semiconductor over the first oxide semiconductor, the third conductor, and the fourth conductor; forming a fourth insulator over the second oxide semiconductor; forming a fifth conductor with oxidation resistance that has an island shape over the fourth insulator; forming a fifth insulator over the fourth insulator and the fifth conductor; forming an opening in the fifth insulator so that the opening reaches the third conductor, the fourth conductor, and the fifth conductor; forming a sixth conductor in the opening; forming a second barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over the sixth conductor; performing oxygen plasma treatment on the second barrier layer and the fifth insulator; and forming a third barrier layer having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen over the second barrier layer and the fifth insulator.
 7. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, according to claim 6, wherein the first barrier layer and the third barrier layer are each formed by a sputtering method.
 8. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, according to claim 6, wherein the fifth conductor has a stacked-layer structure including tantalum nitride formed by an ALD method and tantalum nitride formed by a sputtering method. 